Or, as Cartman would say, ‘Screw you guys!’ 

From my e-mail box:

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary 

For Immediate Release                        May 21, 2008

TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:

I am returning herewith without my approval H.R. 2419, the “Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008.”

For a year and a half, I have consistently asked that the Congress pass a good farm bill that I can sign.  Regrettably, the Congress has failed to do so.  At a time of high food prices and record farm income, this bill lacks program reform and fiscal discipline.  It continues subsidies for the wealthy and increases farm bill spending by more than $20 billion, while using budget gimmicks to hide much of the increase.  It is inconsistent with our objectives in international trade negotiations, which include securing greater market access for American farmers and ranchers.  It would needlessly expand the size and scope of government.  Americans sent us to Washington to achieve results and be good stewards of their hard-earned taxpayer dollars.  This bill violates that fundamental commitment.

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By Denise Ross

John McCain hates farm subsidies and doesn’t like ethanol much, either.

I come from that group of independents attracted to McCain, but it’s times like these I wonder why Sen. John Thune, R-SD, endorsed him again?

“I’d like to start out by saying to you that I have to give you a little straight talk about the farm bill that is winding its way through Congress,” McCain told the audience of about 250 people. “I do not support it. I would veto it. I would do that because I believe that these subsidies, the subsidies are unnecessary.”

McCain, who has long opposed agricultural subsidies, said later in an interview that he was willing to risk the political backlash in heavily agricultural states …

This he says to an Iowa crowd. Iowa! He might as well have been at the Corn Palace in Mitchell. Read it all here.

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By Denise Ross

I found a good run-down of the farm bill, which is not quite over the finish line. But Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., likes what he sees, according to Agriculture Online.

He gets drought relief, trimmed only slightly from an original $4B price tag to $3.8B.

“One of the hardest fought battles in the farm bill process was carrying the permanent disaster program we passed in the Senate to the finish line,” said Thune. “The biggest obstacle to overcome was the fact that only the Senate farm bill included permanent disaster, and it was one of the first farm bill components the House was willing to bargain away in pre-conference negotiations with the [Bush] administration. Thanks to a unified Senate in the conference committee we now will have for the first time in years a comprehensive permanent disaster program that will provide a safety net and fill in the gaps where crop insurance and other programs stop short.”

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By Denise Ross

In my most recent newspaper column I wrote about the prospects for permanent drought aid, or a Disaster Title, becoming a reality. My take is that were it not for the entire Farm Bill being on the ropes, a Disaster Title would be moderately controversial but would pass.

But the entire Farm Bill is on the ropes, and, therefore, a Disaster Title is unlikely to materialize. And if not now, will there be a next time?

If the farm bill weren’t teetering on the brink, a disaster title might be one of those compromises that would pass with grumbles from those who don’t like spending the money. But with the whole farm bill more than six months behind schedule, The Washington Post reports that the House, Senate and White House have started squabbling over how to extend the 2002 farm bill provisions, making a return to 1949 farm policy more of a possibility than anyone cares to contemplate. 

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By Denise Ross

I’m putting together my weekly newspaper column (Mitchell, Spearfish, RC Weekly) about the Farm Bill, and more specifically about the would-be Disaster Title (guaranteed drought aid) that Sen. John Thune is working hard to get passed.

Writing a guarantee of those disaster payments into the Farm Bill isn’t terribly popular outside of a few enclaves. This map from the Environmental Working Group might explain why.

This map shows where disaster checks are sent almost as a matter of course - like every other year. It’s us here in SD and ND in a dramatic fashion. And now I have the Gear Daddies song African Killer Bees Are Coming running through my head. (If you squint, you can see Frank Kloucek’s dot on the map.)

The disasters waiting to happen (but not waiting long) are the Dakotas, west Texas, Oklahoma, to a slightly lesser extent Georgia and Alabama and then something’s going on in northern Arkansas.

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By Denise Ross

Is it just me, or is there a major disconnect in this new line that increased ethanol production is driving up food prices worldwide? My BS detector goes off like a 6 am alarm clock every time I hear this. Am I missing something?

Yes, corn prices are at a lofty $4 per bushel, and farmers are smiling. But guess what? We don’t eat all that corn we grow. No one eats that corn. It’s inedible. And we’ve grown enough of it in my Gen X memory that huge piles of it sit on the ground because the grain elevators are full and there’s nowhere to ship it.

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By Denise Ross

Congress, which has the ultimate luxury of being able to extend it’s own deadlines, is eyeing the looming April 18 deadline for the 2007 Farm Bill not with fear or dread, but maybe annoyance. (At what point does this go from absurd to depressing? It’s long past funny.)

In a conference call with reporters Wednesday, Sen. John Thune, R-SD, gave last year’s Farm Bill even odds of becoming law sometime this year.

As talks continue, we remain optimistic that there are enough of us in Congress who understand the importance of passing a Farm Bill to ultimately get it done. But if this April 18 deadline lapses, all bets are off. We’ll end up extending the current (2002) Farm Bill a year or 2 years. This is a critical time for the Farm Bill. …

There’s a 50-50 chance we will still get a Farm Bill done this year.

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