I hope this isn't a copyright problem. This is from Gary Foreman, editor
of The Dollar Stretcher, which I find to be an extremely helpful
newsletter. If you have the opportunity, please read the entire article.
I'd like to hear your comments:
"Hello to all my Frugal Friends!
It's fairly obvious to anyone who's not sleepwalking that
higher food and fuel prices are really hurting most Americans.
Everyday I get emails from folks who are struggling with these
two bills. For many people, it's a real serious problem.
Maybe I'm just an optimist, but I figured that our elected
representatives would recognize the problem and try to do
something about it. Boy, was I wrong. Not only did they ignore
the food price inflation, but they actually found a way to
make it worse! They just don't seem to understand what it's
like for you and me to work to support our families. Last week
provided an excellent example. On May 14th, the House passed a
$307 Billion farm bill.
Now, I like farmers as much as anyone. In fact, Foremans were
Wisconsin dairy farmers. I was raised in the city, but spent a
lot of time visiting relatives who made their living on small
family farms. So I have the utmost respect for someone who
plants something and nurtures it as it grows bigger. And, I
want to help those people wherever I can. But, this bill
doesn't do that. It assumes that you and I are too stupid to
go beyond the name "farm bill." We must be too dumb to
recognize that it's not the small farmer who's being
protected. It's the large agri-business corporation and others
who have little (or nothing) to do with farming as you and I
would think of it.
First, look at the cutoff. A couple with a yearly income of
$1.5 million can receive farm subsidies. Call me Scrooge, but
I'd say that families making more than, oh, say $500,000 per
year probably don't need subsidies paid for by you and me. One
group reports that only 8% of the producers will get 78% of
the money <http://www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome_mjx.shtml
Still think it could be a good piece of legislation? Take a
look at your grocery bill. You'll find that bread, milk and
meat have all increased in price. Dramatically. Why? In large
part because ethanol is consuming grains that normally would
go to feed us. Higher prices indicate that there's more demand
for corn than we can produce. Now you might think that
Washington would get the idea that their ethanol mandates
should be relaxed until the supply of corn can catch up with
the demand. Guess again. So why is the government subsidizing
ethanol production? Seems a little like pouring gas on the
fire of higher food prices.
Then you have the old Congressional shell game. That's where
they include spending that has nothing to do with the main
bill. After all, who wants to be against the family farm? So
let's throw in some money for horse racing and timber
interests. Those dummies back home will never know the
difference!
Rational people might have said that this was a good time to
limit a farm bill to helping those family farmers who truly
need help. "Farm net income is up 56% in the last 2 years"
(source: NY
Times)<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/opinion/20brooks.html
?_r=1&ref=opinion> There's "$40 billion in subsidies to
commodity farmers who already enjoy record prices." (source:
SF Chronicle) <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-
bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/14/MNIJ10M871.DTL&type=politics> We could
have had a farm bill that took care of the small
family farm without causing additional grocery inflation. But,
that wouldn't have pleased all the special interests.
Guess I'm just mad. You and I are dealing with higher energy
and food prices. Instead of doing something to help, our
elected representatives (from both parties) are busy spending
our money buying favors for themselves. Adding "earmarks" to
every bill in sight. I really believe that it's time to put
Washington on a budget. And, force them to keep it. Whoever
said that they should be allowed to "earmark" anything? I
don't recall voting on it.
Much of the economic trouble that you and I face today is due
to the clowns (and I use the term intentionally) in Washington
that we call elected representatives. They set us up for this
fall. And, unless a camera is present, they really don't seem
to care too much about how much it hurts us. After all, things
are booming in the beltway. No recession there!
I was raised to respect the people who led our country. But,
it's really hard to respect someone when you know that their
back pockets are filled with money that at best was unearned
and, at worst, could be called bribe money. Maybe it's time to
let them know how little respect they've earned.
So the next time your elected representative says they're
against special interests ask them how they voted on the farm
bill. There were 318 yes votes (and only 106 no's) in the
House. The Senate voted 85-15. This isn't a partisan
Democrat/Republican issue. This is a question whether we can
trust the crazies on the Potomac not to bankrupt both the
government and you and me. If they voted "yes" on this bill,
it's probably time to vote "no" on their re-election this
November.
If you want to comment on the farm bill visit
http://community.stretcher.com/blogs/stretcher/archive/2008/0
5/19/congress-likes-higher-food-prices.aspx
Keep on Stretching Those Dollars!
Gary
