[hijabihoodlum]

ok ok; i know most of you all don't care. but you should. this week and next week are BIG for the farm bill. one heck of an expensive piece of legislation trying to scramble it's way through congress before it lets out for the summer. anyway, the last farm bill was in 2002, so this isnt one of those annual occurrences. now, i intern at the US Dept of Ag headquarters in DC, so i get to see my bosses running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to come up with legislation and whatnot. a frantic deputy director of my division burst into my cubicle yesterday asking me to research a couple congressmen to see why they were anti-farm bill. it's been amusing to see the House Ag Committee's *extreme* disappointment with Bush's intent to veto their precious bill.* so for once in my life, i'm egging on our president.

*excerpt from a press release from the House Ag Committee: "This is not the first time that the Bush Administration has turned its back on American agriculture and rural America."

i know that most people won't even know what im talking about. the farm bill is a huge conglomeration of legislation that appropriates untold billions to different food/farm entities. it's not all bad; the government encourages farmers to keep more of their land out of production (with "cover crops" that prevent erosion, etc.) by giving them percentages of whatever it costs to do so. however the farm bill also involves paying subsidies to farmers of key crops (like corn, which is a really big deal right now because of ethanol), and these subsidies often get out of hand.

so the house ag committee, who believes they have come up with an ultimate compromise of a bill (and while it does involve cuts in spending, its a far cry from being economically reasonable), is now whining because bush wants to veto their bill (which they kind of already knew he'd do). the house ag committee caters largely to big bad ag lobbyists and corporations, so you can see where their bias plays in. if this scenario had to be a scene, i would liken it to a kid stuffing his/her face with cookies when he/she gets caught by a parent:

parent: "why are you eating all those cookies???"
kid: "but i'm eating less than i did yesterday!"
parent: "but you're not even supposed to HAVE cookies; you have cavities!"
kid: "that is SO not fair."




anyway, this post can mostly be summed up by saying that i needed to vent.

[ChotooMotoo]

It's all well and good that they give farm subsidies to wheat and corn... but I would sure like to see them extend that to smaller family farmers who run things like orchards. It just doesn't seem right that a large farm in Iowa growing corn can get bookoo bucks in subsidies, and a small Apple farmer in Washington State has to sell his farm (or burn down his orchard) to avoid bankruptcy. Too many special interests involved in these subsidies.

[Multani]

wouldn't bush want to side with these big AG corporations though? I don't get it.

[hijabihoodlum]

Originally Posted by Multani

wouldn't bush want to side with these big AG corporations though? I don't get it.

yes and no. but mostly no, because bush is pro-trade and the farm bill is "the most trade distorting amber box program under World Trade Organization obligations" (from here: http://www.brownfieldnetwork.com/ges...2F271C59173B23)

and if you make the WTO mad, which we do repeatedly, then you suffer in the global economy. and bush is all about global trade.