Thanks, DGD, for respecting "this/my" thread. It's been here for a little while already, eh? What about the remarks about Smedley I posted very early in this thread? One might assert such remarks are "political"; I prefer to see them (the remarks) as reasons for my personal perspective. And, we're in the SmackTalk section.
My thinking about this "farm bill" differs from yours in that I don't see the end to direct payments as is indicated by your post. The farm bill was permitted, for the first time ever, to separate the foodstamp (SNAP) program from the subsidy aspect of the farm bill. NOT GOOD for those who the foodstamp program was intended for and very GOOD for the phat cat farmer.
http://www.ewg.org is a web site which tracks these atrocious payments across the USA. See for yourself beginning here:
http://farm.ewg.org/ and muck about your own state and county. (I proclaim the web site is "neutral": While it does have an agenda, it's just
reporting the facts of dollar payouts to the entire subsidy recipient data base and is neutral in this regard. Find out how much "...poor old farmer Jones...." is raking in in real welfare payments.) The "kicker" is that the phat cat impoverished welfare recipients have been quite successful at keeping the crop insurance payments and payouts NON public records. While subsidies may have declined slightly, the crop insurance program grew. And how. And federal law dictates that the crop insurance scam is not public record like the direct payments. Are there direct payments for FOOD crops like lettuce, apples, oranges, celery, carrots, etc., etc., etc., etc.? Answer is: "NO!"
Taxpayers for Common Sense:
.......the Senate passed a trillion dollar farm bill that increases special interest subsidies for one of the most profitable sectors of our economy while turning a blind eye to our country’s more than $17 trillion national debt. The Agricultural Act of 2014 expands the government’s role in agriculture, picks winners and losers, hides the names of lawmakers and Cabinet Secretaries receiving taxpayer subsidies and guts provisions to rein in subsidies to city dwellers and other non-farmers.
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition:
The bill jettisons the long-overdue payment limitation reforms included in both the House- and Senate-passed bills last year that target farm subsidy payments to working farmers. It also drops a provision passed twice by the Senate that would have modestly reduced insurance subsidies to millionaires. Additionally, the bill cuts billions from the very conservation programs that help farmers address production challenges and protect natural resources and the environment. The final bill also reduces benefits for a portion of SNAP (food stamp) participants.
“At a time of fiscal restraint, growing income inequality, and economic distress in rural communities, it is appalling for the new farm bill to continue uncapped, unlimited commodity and crop insurance subsidies for mega-farms,” said Ferd Hoefner, Policy Director with NSAC.
“The backroom deal to reverse the reforms backed by a bipartisan majority of the both the House and the Senate is an affront to the democratic process.”R Street:
While Congress and the White House reached consensus that the time has come to finally end the awful “direct payments” program, Congress squandered most of those savings through the creation of a variety of new “shallow loss” insurance programs that look to lock in record-high commodity prices. The White House also proposed scaling back premium subsidies for crop insurance as well as administrative and operating expense subsidies to crop insurance companies, while the bill passed by Congress actually expands the crop insurance subsidies, a program with no limits or caps whatsoever to hold down costs.
“Given that shallow loss places trillions of dollars of market price fluctuation risk on the backs of taxpayers, we would not be surprised to find that this bill actually proves to be more expensive than a straight extension of existing law,” [R Street Senior Fellow Andrew] Moylan said. “We call on the president to use his pen to veto this measure and insist that Congress return a bill that at least meets his own modest budget savings demands.”
The first post was a copy and paste from a fax I sent to a couple of sitting U.S. Senators months ago; and continued to send same weekly. It also went to the duffus Rep. Lynn Jenkins. Voting is a waste of time. Participating after all the asleep clowns put people in office is where the rubber meets the road. Fric or Frac: "They're" all cut from the same cloth for the most part. After "they're" in office is when one begins the participate theme with faxes; letters; emails; and phone calls. And, yes, even personal face to face to meetings (they really hate those....). Snail Mail letters really aren't effectual anymore due to the security scares of yesteryear. Faxes, on the other hand, do have impact....well....some anyway.
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
Calendar
I'm on my way down.....just as soon as the price hike on harps heads downwards. Priced a Marine Band harp recently?! 
With Johnny Winter 
