Posted on 02/15/2002 2:58:58 PM PST by RJCogburn
Future of Freedom Foundation | February 2002 | Sheldon Richman
The tenets of the New Deal era farm supports are no longer needed. Bring in gigantic corporations and Nafta, plow under family farms, and allow "guest workers" from Mexico to pick all the veggies that can't be harvested by hand.
Individual families aren't needed.
The only reason the price supports exist is because there is currently a policy to have non mega-farms supplying the food chain. If you want mega-farms and corporations, get rid of the supports. If you don't want mega-farms and corporations, keep the supports.
It's a policy decision.
Do you have a recipe for "capability." I sounds awfully good, and I thought I would prepare some for the family this weekend.
Truth is, if we stopped every penny of farm subsidies tomorrow, there would not be one potatoe less in anybody's pot the next day, next year, or ever because of it, and it would probably be a lot cheaper darn soon.
Hank
The subsidies have nothing to do with ensuring enough to eat. They are all about guaranteeing an income to farmers whether they have a good or bad crop. Otherwise, the government could guarantee that everyone has enough to eat by buying up all the food and then giving it away to all for free. I believe in the free enterprise system and the farmers are not practicing in that type of system.
Do you realize that 30 percent of the wheat farmers' gross income comes from the government? Thirty percent! The guys that grow other grains and soybeans get 20 percent of their income from Washington. Can you say "socialized agriculture"?
Can you say idiot? Where does this moron thinks food comes from? I guess this pinhead never heard of drought, taxes, environmental regulations, hail, tornados, floods, et. al. American Farmers Feed the WORLD! How much More taxpayer dollars goes to welfare, People producing nothing? This guy whining about overweight people? That's the farmers fault? Sheldon Richman should spend a year in Ethiopia, then pop off.
What a Clymer.
< /RANT >
See who is getting the pork and who is getting porked
he would quickly learn that it is votes. The politicians are using your tax dollars to buy the votes of farmers. Just roam around that site. It will make you sick. I checked out one county in Nebraska and it looked like about 95% of the people in the county were getting farm welfare - uh, excuse me "farm security payments".
I'd like to see you repeat that ignorant statement to some of the farmers out in Minnesota or North Dakota.
So what do you produce for a living?
The U.S.A. Has the cheapest, freshest, highest quality, and choice of food in the world.
Maybe you should be in charge of food production.
I don't know whether to attack both of you or not.
I do know that the average american farmer puts in many more hours trying to survive with his family farm over the long haul
than any stock broking, pin striped, soft handed, computer geek American,
that calls himself "a man", just because he drives a fancy car and owns alot of propped up stock.
And I know that the average American Farmer considers our country's interest over his own during a war.
And I know... that there are no finer people to be called Americans in this country,......period, than our farmers, and ranchers.
Some people will not know this, but will write about it as if they do, and with little or no regard for the truth.
I will spend my remaining years defending these people with all that I have.
Yes, a few take more than they should, but most hate taking any!.
..and when they do, thy feel that they might have done something
that their forefathers would have considered a disgrace.
Go after the big ones that take advantage, but leave the little ones alone that are just trying to keep their land for their children,
and save it from from our governments overtaxation and landgrabbing.
I am not an expert on farm subsidies, but would someone please tell me why "safe" US produced foodstuffs are sent to starving countries and I cant find a fresh vegatable in my local grocery store made in the USA?
I am not trying to be flip-I really would like someone to give me the short true answer to this question.
The problem is that I might already be paying more than $12 for a gallon of milk;
$3 or so to the store PLUS my share of the farm subsidies divided by the gallons of milk that I use.
Might be a sight more that $12, just hidden, like the "hidden tax" that it is.
Probably due to the EPA, FDA, and all the other alphabet soup agencies that keep banning perfectly safe chemicals and pesticides in this country using junk science. Remember Alar? It's OK, but Merill Streep is an expert,I guess. ("What are we doing to our Children!!!?!?!) How many Alar deaths have occured in this Country?
I am not an expert on farm subsidies, but would someone please tell me why "safe" US produced foodstuffs are sent to starving countries and I cant find a fresh vegatable in my local grocery store made in the USA?
Probably for the almighty dollar. Could be time of the year. Living in CA, there is plenty of US produce.
I am not trying to be flip-I really would like someone to give me the short true answer to this question.
I tried! And as far as I know, it's the truth!
You pay a hell of a lot more for welfare and other goverment subsities (Freebies for people that don't work) in taxes than you do for you gallon of milk, jack.
Why? What would they do? Certainly you aren't emplying they would do something to prove what we all know, that at heart they are thugs, living off the actually earned profits of others, are you.
Hank
Yeah right, better living through chemistry.
---max
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