As Americans sit down to costlier dinners each night, Congress once again embarks on its annual tradition of sending hard-earned taxpayer money to those who are selling us their high-priced food. The pork-laden $300 billion “2008 Farm Bill” is coming up for a vote this week, and, with all the behind-the-scenes favor-granting and arm-twisting, it will easily pass both the House and Senate. Which is nothing more than a shame. And a sham.
Despite the fact that global food prices have risen a staggering 43% in the past year, the Farm Bill not only continues to massively subsidize farmers, it actually increases the scope and scale of those subsidies. The 2008 bill, in fact, includes a whole litany of – to quote John Frydenlund of Citizens Against Government Waste – “extraneous” projects, such as tax benefits to wealthy racehorse owners, pushed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
As if the licentious spending was not bad enough, House leadership is now attempting to portray the bill as “significant reform,” which of course it is anything but. The truth is, labeling it as such is something akin to calling Al Capone a crime-fighter.
Fortunately, President Bush has promised to veto the bill, and congressional Republicans have a good track record of upholding his vetoes. But with the pork-barrel favors being handed out in the smoke-filled back rooms of Congress today, the executive branch is worried that the veto may not be upheld.
ALG News urges President Bush to stick to his guns and veto the fraudulent bill. It has no more to do with helping real, down-to-earth farmers than the Democratic majority does with real, honest-to-goodness fiscal reform. And to Mr. McConnell and his fellow Republican senators we say this: If you like your minority status, just keep force-feeding Americans costly schemes likes this – and you’ll soon be able to hold your fundraising dinners in a telephone booth.
ALG CTA: ALG NEWS encourages concerned commentators nationwide to urge your audiences to contact the President about vetoing this costly boondoggle of a bill. The White House comment line is (202) 456-1111. Or, emails may be sent to comments@whitehouse.gov.
