George's House of Chicken & Waffles

[CagedTroll]

[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]:

"This bill is generous and will provide a safety net for farmers, and it will do so without encouraging overproduction and depressing prices," Bush said at a signing ceremony. "It will allow farmers and ranchers to plan and operate based on market realities, not government dictates."

The bill guarantees a more stable income by raising subsidies for grain and cotton growers -- traditionally, they have dominated federal farm programs -- by reviving subsidies for wool and honey, and by providing new payments for milk, peanuts, lentils and dry peas.

"Farming is the first industry of America -- the industry that feeds us, the industry that clothes us, and the industry that increasingly provides more of our energy," Bush said. "The success of America's farmers and ranchers is essential to the success of the American economy."

[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]:

President Bush will seek deep cuts in farm and commodity programs in his new budget and in a major policy shift will propose overall limits on subsidy payments to farmers, administration officials said Saturday.

"Voted for it before he voted against it."

[bobbcat]

As well he should. Who cares what he said before? He is doing the right thing now, and that is the point, is it not?

How many other politicians have said one thing and done another? The list is endless.

Split hairs over something more worthwhile.

[CagedTroll]

Originally Posted by bobbcat

Who cares what he said before?

My guess would be anybody that was effected (i.e. benefited or KILLED) because of what he's said before.

Originally Posted by bobbcat

He is doing the right thing now, and that is the point, is it not?

A) I'm not entirely sure what he claims he's trying to do is "right".
B) I doubt that he's actually trying to do it. Because, on this very same issue, [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now] before..., with words of praise.

The president had complained that more subsidies would cause overproduction, worsening the plight of farmers. Some Republicans implored him to veto it even after the signing ceremony was scheduled.

[crazytimes]

I really don't know much about farming subsidies. All I know is in Nebraska they help the local economy.

I've read they encourage overproduction and make it difficult for farmers in places like Mexico to sell their produce.

[luvmetender]

Originally Posted by crazytimes

All I know is in Nebraska they help the local economy quite a bit hear.

Don't you mean here?

[crazytimes]

Originally Posted by luvmetender

Don't you mean here?

you got me. My bad!

[mrbowler]

"The administration will propose a 5% across-the-board cut in price supports for crops and a reduction from $360,000 to $250,000 in the annual cap on subsidies that farmers can receive.

Under the current system, some farmers evade the limit by dividing farms into several separate corporate entities, a practice that the budget also will seek to eliminate.

A Senate Agriculture Committee aide, saying evasion of the cap was extremely rare, argued that farmers needed the safety net of federal aid for the years when they could not sell their crops for the cost of producing them.

In a letter Thursday to Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, a coalition of more than 100 organizations led by the American Farm Bureau Federation, said that Congress, in the 2002 bill that authorized farm subsidies for seven more years, had already cut subsidies by $4 billion a year by imposing the $360,000 cap."

Seems like a good move for the Republican Party-if they can slow down the amount of corporate farms

More Family Farmers Failing Under Bush Administration:
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]

"On the Bush Administration's watch, mammoth industrial farms have collected an ever-greater share of federal farm subsidies. In 1995, they received $3.98 billion, or 55 percent of all federal farm payments. In 2002, their portion increased to $7.8 billion, or 65 percent of all federal payments. Currently, almost 30 percent of agricultural subsidies go to the top two percent of farms and over four-fifths to the top 30 percent."

[CagedTroll]

I've known a few people in Tennessee that have been getting paid (by the government) to NOT grow anything on the farmland they own...! Can anyone explain this to me??? That's where some of these subsidies go, as well as to corporate farms. I rarely hear about gov't money going to farmers that actually need it.

[crazytimes]

Exactly what they need cuts.

That's the thing. Of course when you hear "budget cuts" it sounds bad, but there are MANY problems with a lot of the programs we have in this country and we need to eliminate the problems.

I think subsidies are important, but they really to make sure they go to those who need them.