February Porker of the Month
A few days late but better late than never, right!
CAGW Names Rep. Collin Peterson Porker of the Month
Washington, D.C. - Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today named House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) Porker of the Month for his hostility toward agriculture policy reform.
Although the primary justification for agriculture policies has always been that they are necessary to protect “small family farmers,” subsidies overwhelmingly go to the largest farmers and agribusinesses. According to the Environmental Working Group, between 1995 and 2005, the largest 4 percent of farms garnered half of commodity subsidy payments, while the largest 10 percent pulled in 73 percent. Many of these farmers have net worths exceeding $2 million. The subsidies drive up land prices and put smaller farmers out of business. Present farm policy is a case of Robin Hood in reverse that devastates rural communities.
President Bush’s 2007 farm bill proposal would eliminate subsidy payments to individuals with an adjusted gross income of $200,000 or more. In truth, the proposal does not go far enough and leaves intact the overall payment limitation of $360,000, which should also be lowered. Even modest reform is too much for Rep. Peterson, who thinks agriculture would be “better off not having any payment limits at all” (Western Farm Press, 2/7/07).
Farm subsidies raise prices for consumers, encourage farming on environmentally sensitive land, undercut subsistence farmers in developing countries, and invite retaliatory tariffs that hurt U.S. producers of non-subsidized commodities. The farm program is simply a massive transfer of wealth from taxpayers and consumers to the wealthy, politically-connected producers of a handful of crops
Check out the site for the rest of the article.
CAGW Names Rep. Collin Peterson Porker of the Month
Washington, D.C. - Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today named House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) Porker of the Month for his hostility toward agriculture policy reform.
Although the primary justification for agriculture policies has always been that they are necessary to protect “small family farmers,” subsidies overwhelmingly go to the largest farmers and agribusinesses. According to the Environmental Working Group, between 1995 and 2005, the largest 4 percent of farms garnered half of commodity subsidy payments, while the largest 10 percent pulled in 73 percent. Many of these farmers have net worths exceeding $2 million. The subsidies drive up land prices and put smaller farmers out of business. Present farm policy is a case of Robin Hood in reverse that devastates rural communities.
President Bush’s 2007 farm bill proposal would eliminate subsidy payments to individuals with an adjusted gross income of $200,000 or more. In truth, the proposal does not go far enough and leaves intact the overall payment limitation of $360,000, which should also be lowered. Even modest reform is too much for Rep. Peterson, who thinks agriculture would be “better off not having any payment limits at all” (Western Farm Press, 2/7/07).
Farm subsidies raise prices for consumers, encourage farming on environmentally sensitive land, undercut subsistence farmers in developing countries, and invite retaliatory tariffs that hurt U.S. producers of non-subsidized commodities. The farm program is simply a massive transfer of wealth from taxpayers and consumers to the wealthy, politically-connected producers of a handful of crops
Check out the site for the rest of the article.
posted by bb at 1:09 PM
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