Farm Subsidization
The
United States Department of Agriculture is probably one of the most significant
attacks on the American public and one only a few are aware of. The Department
of Agriculture was added to Congress in 1889 and was established to give
farmers information on innovative practices, scientific study, and the latest
in technology. America saw an increase in new machinery, better crop
production, and the elimination of erosion and other methods of sustainable
farming techniques that were developed over the following decades.
Farming was hard work, risky and subject to weather, insects, and the economy.
This was made most prominent to the public by a drought (the dust bowl) in the early
twenties and that hard work still continues to this day even with the advent of
modern technology.
It wasn't until the 1930?s when the Progressive movement established a platform
for farmers that put them in a class by themselves and as if this platform was
following the Communist Manifesto to the letter it has succeeded in
implementing many of the manifesto goals. During Theodore Roosevelt's
presidency, Roosevelt was originally against the subsidizing of farmers, but
pressure from three political parties bent his traditional American way of
thinking to succumb to the demands of the Democrats, the Communists, and the
Progressives who were demanding special privileges regardless of
Constitutionality. The Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) was
established on May 12, 1933 and was set up as a crop-control method. Its
purpose was to raise the real income of farmers to the level which they had
enjoyed during a five year period when farm prices were supposed to have been
at parity and equality with prices of manufactured goods. It recognized
the chief cause of low prices was over production; therefore, it created a need
to cut down on surplus to drive the prices higher. This allowed Congress to use
its taxing power and its power over interstate commerce to control economic
activities which had traditionally been defined as being intrastate or of a
local character. The Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Butler court
case nullified the AAA on the grounds that the production of foodstuffs was
local and not interstate commerce. This did not stop the Progressives once
Roosevelt took office he sent Congress a draft bill on Feb 5, 1937 to
reorganize the Federal judiciary on the grounds that insufficient and infirm
judicial personnel had led to crowded dockets and intolerable delays.
Our current agriculture programs have become more convoluted with each passing
decade. Today, our federal government provides a safety net unlike any welfare
or corporate bailout we have ever seen. Granted that farmers and
producers should have some means of stability for unseen disasters,
improvements, and future development but the current set of subsidies,
insurances, and control agencies are a direct assault on the American people.
Although much of the hype is about preserving the family farm, the USDA is a
far cry from helping any family in the US by the subsidize crop benefits
consisting of
- Direct payment
paid at a set rate every year regardless of conditions. Average $5
billion/year since 2005
- Counter-cyclical
payments paid when market prices fall below certain thresholds. $1.2
billion in 2009
- Revenue
Assurance Program providing for overall profitability for a given crop.
Topped at $20 billion in one year.
- Marketing loans
offering very favorable terms whereby farmers can realize tremendous gains
through loan deficiency payments and commodity certificates.
- Disaster
payments paid to recoup large losses due to natural phenomena and the
government subsidizes the crop insurance to further cushion farmers from
risk. $7.3 billion in 2009 and of course the cost of crop insurance
goes up as crop prices increase because the government’s premium
subsidies. And since it is the taxpayer who pays a good portion of crop
insurance claims, the costs we incur for any crop losses climb along with
crop prices.
The
price tag on the federal farm subsidies from 1995 to 2009 were a quarter of a
trillion dollars this shadows the current administrations bailout of GE and
undermines the welfare plan. Usually taxpayers get some money back with a
bailout, theoretically, and welfare recipients are subject to time-limits, and
work requirements in order to receive a minuscule relief and once more, it
isn't uniform from one applicant to another.
As if the peril of our economy isn't enough, losing our natural resources to a
police state-minded ideology should bring us back to our senses. Knowing that
the abolition of private property is the first element of the Communist
Manifesto, and seeing how farms are being controlled by government it should
compel one to want to fight for liberty. Heavy taxes to pay for these subsidies
gains us little benefit for our future. Some are selling their farms due to
heavy burdens instead of leaving their farm to the next generation, and hoping
a central bank will care about you happens only in the movies. When the
government gains complete control over what we grow, how we grow it, and
who we sell it to and for how much should outrage every American and get your
blood boiling, if it does then stand for FREEDOM and stand for SOVEREIGNTY! We
will work together to ensure Congress ensures mutually beneficial trade in
regulating foreign trade, helps to establish a fair value on products, works
within the Constitution to protect the American Farmer and this vital industry
that is the life blood of the American way of life. We'll help to encourage
diversity of crops, education and youth involvement in agriculture, establish
sound agricultural experiments but mostly allow the states to decide what is in
the best interest in their own state and work in harmony with the public, the
environment and the farm.
The
USDA, FDA, EPA and state Dept. of Agriculture are now converged into a massive
out of control agency that looks into every aspect of human existence. Many
times one department doesn’t know its policy and refers people to another
department with the same results because the laws, rules and regulations are so
extreme. Take for instance the Food Safety Modernization Act
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8RQ6FNGDxw&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ2dSwdRGns&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B48ZCKCJE6g&feature=player_embedded
