House Republicans Arrogance De-Railed Farm Bill!

[JimofPennsylvan]

The House Republicans acted like arrogant dumb people again when they failed to pass the Farm bill through their chamber this past Thursday. Even though the bill cut $20 billion from the Food Stamp program over ten years they were still poised to get enough Democrat House members to vote for it to pass it through their chamber but they had to indulge their extreme right wing ideals by passing two non-mainstream amendments that killed this necessary Democrat support. Their arrogance can make one want to pull one's hair out!


They passed the Rep. Steven Southerland Amendment which essentially puts a work requirement on receiving Food Stamps. O they tried to be clever about it they called it a pilot program and it has to be initiated by the states but these details are meaningless. For the provisions of the bill requires the Agriculture Secretary to accept the State program if it meets basically easy threshold requirements and the bill requires the program to apply to the entirety of a state. Moreover, states get half the savings from the work requirement that accrue to the Federal Government from the program and they can do whatever they want with the savings can't you see the states where the Republicans are in control rushing around to put such a program in place if such a bill became law. Don't Republicans get it in many communities people can't even find minimum wage jobs, the Food Stamp problem for America isn't a character problem in America it is a lack of good paying jobs in America problem in America! If Republicans really want to solve the Food Stamp problem they can begin with discarding their requirement that the personal income tax code be modified to lower tax rates as a condition to modify the corporate tax code so the corporate tax rates can be lowered because it is well known if the corporate tax code can be changed like it is commonly known it can be many many good paying jobs will be created; the fact that many small businesses pay taxes under the individual income tax code and won't receive a break from a corporate tax code change the country can't allow those set of circumstances from stopping it from helping a whole lot of other people who would get jobs and besides let some of those small businesses operate like a corporation for tax purposes if corporations will be getting such an advantage. Republicans behavior here also shows a very ugly and offensive element of what their all about many Republicans and their business allies like a large supply of minimum wage workers it helps these businesses mangers and owners make larger amounts of money it underscores they don't care about these low wage workers and this amendment helps these people fulfill this agenda of theirs. It is not to say that one day in America if prosperity returns like it should and everyone shares in it and the supply of good paying jobs is plentiful that a work requirement should not be put on this program to kick-out the very small number of Americans in this program that are free loaders and gaming the system types but today is certainly not that day! Plus doesn't it occur to the Republican House members that you want to get stuff done in Washington and that requires compromise and you're always calling on the Democrats to compromise you already got the House Democrats to agree to vote for a bill that takes $20 billion out of the Democrat coveted SNAP program where is your responsible sacrifice you know this amendment is a deal breaker, start fulfilling your duty you have a duty to work with the other side and pass legislation!


The House Republicans also added the Representative Richard Hudson amendment to the bill which give states the authority to make passing a drug test a necessary condition for people in their state to receive food stamps. It really seems that Republicans view people that are drug users as people that solely have a character shortcoming and if they would only choose to act with good character they wouldn't be involved in this drug activity. This is not the way mainstream America views these people mainstream Americans understand many drug users have a physiological problem, it is a physical dependency that they experience these people have a medical problem just like a diabetic has a blood sugar medical problem these people should not be denied food assistance because they don't have control over their medical problem. The Republican views here are un-American, Americans have compassion for the ill. One final point Republicans are probably wasting their time on this amendment because if such a law gets before a really good judge, I don't write this from a legal perspective but from a perspective of what I would do if I was on the bench, he or she is probably going to bend over backwards to strike down this law I myself wonder if one couldn't strike this law down on discrimination grounds because many drug addicts are disabled people a protected class of people and discrimination laws don't allow the government to discriminate against protected classes of people!


Many commentators have said that these two amendments killed Democrat House support for the Farm bill and thus killed the bill! Which begs the question, why doesn't Speaker Boehner just initiate a new Farm bill that looks exactly like the Farm Bill (HR 1947) that failed this week without these two amendments and bring it up for a vote next week and take this whole issue off the table for the American people? But, John buddy-old-pal count the votes before you do it!

 

[waltky]

Bulk of its nearly $100 billion per year cost is for the food stamp program that aids 1 in 7 Americans...

Obama Signs Farm Bill That Trims Food Stamps
February 7, 2014 — President Barack Obama on Friday signed into law an agriculture spending bill that will spread benefits to farmers in every region of the country, while trimming the food stamp program that inspired a two-year battle over the legislation.

As he penned his name on the five year measure at Michigan State University, Obama said the wide-ranging bill "multitasks" by helping boost jobs, innovation, research and conservation. "It's like a Swiss Army knife," he joked. But not everyone is happy with the legislation and Obama acknowledged its passage was "a very challenging piece of business." The bill expands federal crop insurance and ends direct government payments that go to farmers whether they produce anything or not. But the bulk of its nearly $100 billion per year cost is for the food stamp program that aids 1 in 7 Americans.

The bill finally passed with support from Democratic and Republican lawmakers from farming states, but the bipartisan spirit didn't extend to the signing ceremony where Obama was flanked by farm equipment, hay bales and Democratic lawmakers. White House press secretary Jay Carney said several Republicans were invited, but all declined to attend. Conservatives remain unhappy with the bill and its generous new subsidies for interests ranging from Southern peanut growers and Midwest corn farmers to the Northeast maple syrup industry.

They also wanted much larger cuts to food stamps than the $800 million Congress finally approved in a compromise. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters he did not expect the cut of about 1 percent of the food stamp budget to have a significant impact on recipients. Obama promised in his State of the Union address last week to make 2014 a year of action, using his presidential powers in addition to pushing a Congress that usually is reluctant to go along with his ideas. In that spirit, he's coupling the signing of the farm bill with a new administration initiative called "Made in Rural America" to connect rural businesses with federal resources that can help sell their products and services abroad.

Obama's trip was a reward for Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who as chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee helped broker the hard-fought farm bill compromise after years of setbacks. Michigan State, a leading agricultural research school, is Stabenow's alma mater. Obama also squeezed into his three-hour visit to Michigan a lunch with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. Duggan took office last month as the city is going through the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

Obama Signs Farm Bill That Trims Food Stamps | CNS News

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How the Farm Bill Affects What's in Your Fridge
February 07, 2014 — Today President Barack Obama signed the farm bill into law. This is a massive piece of "omnibus legislation" that Congress renews roughly every five years, and it touches on almost everything having to do with agriculture or food production. The bill even includes the food stamps program as part of its jurisdiction over all things nutrition.

Although the bill made headlines for its changes to agricultural subsidies and food stamps, you don't have to receive either to feel the effects of the farm bill. In fact this law impacts every American every day, and well, it should -- with a price tag of just under $1 trillion.

For everyone who loves partisan football, the farm bill has already made for some interesting coverage. For the rest of us, here are a few ways today's signing will actually effect each meal of the day.

Breakfast: Milk, Butter, Pastries, Cereal

As it turns out, the federal government plays a surprisingly large role in the price of milk. Under a program called the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) Program, the government secures dairy farmers against fluctuations in the market. It compensates farmers whenever the price of milk drops too low or the price of feed gets too expensive, helping to keep them from going out of business or raising dairy prices sky high.

This program keeps the price of milk artificially low by allowing farmers to charge less for their product than it actually costs to make. Currently, dairy farmers generally pay more to feed their cows than you do for a gallon of milk at the supermarket. The MILC Program allows that by making up the difference between those prices.

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