ace....now that I learned a bit more about this bill, I take back my veto support. I like it
This is the best farm bill I have seen since the early 90s. It cuts subsidies to the millionaire farmers from about 75% of the bill's total cost (as it was in the 2002 bill) to less than 15% of this bill.
That represents a huge reallocation of priorities.
Instead it focuses on food nutrition and support programs for the urban/rural poor, disaster insurance and agricultural land conservation programs.
Quote:
Domestic nutrition programs make up the largest portion of the estimated $300 billion farm bill. Crop subsidies make up roughly 14 percent, foreign food aid less than 1 percent.
A breakdown of the bill:
_ Food stamps and other domestic nutrition programs such as emergency food assistance: just over 66 percent, about $200 billion.
_ Subsidies for rice, cotton, corn, soybeans, wheat and other crops: 14 percent, around $43 billion.
_ Conservation programs to set aside or protect environmentally sensitive farmland: 9 percent, about $27 billion.
_ Crop insurance to help farmers protect against losses: 8 percent, about $23 billion.
_ Foreign food aid would make up less than 1 percent of the bill, costing less than $200 million. The bulk of international food assistance is in annual appropriations bills.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j...WiAaAD90LU8CG1
|
It still has alot of pork, inserted from both sides of the aisle.
But overall, it now has my support and I would no longer characterizie it as a "millionaires agri-business welfare bill"...well, at least not as much as the previous bill.