[Vision2020] Meanspiritedness, Selfishness, and Hypocrisy To The Nth Power

[Art Deco]

  [image: The New York Times] <http://www.nytimes.com/>

------------------------------
December 5, 2012
Stalled Farm Bill Is Pushed for Its Savings By RON
NIXON<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/n/ron_nixon/index.html>

¶<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/us/politics/stalled-farm-bill-could-help-with-deficit-reduction.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print#p[WAPWAP]>WASHINGTON
— As President Obama and Republican leaders try to avoid
automatic spending cuts and tax increases beginning in the new year,
several lawmakers say a stalled farm
bill<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/f/farm_bill_us/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>that
reshapes nutrition and agriculture programs could contribute billions
of dollars in savings.

¶<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/us/politics/stalled-farm-bill-could-help-with-deficit-reduction.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print#p[SDSSDS]>Senator
Debbie
Stabenow<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/debbie_stabenow/index.html?inline=nyt-per>,
Democrat of Michigan and chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee,
and Representative Frank D. Lucas, Republican of Oklahoma and chairman of
the House Agriculture Committee, are trying to persuade administration and
Congressional leaders to include the measure in negotiations that are
seeking to avoid more than $500 billion in tax increases and more than $100
billion in automatic spending cuts that would go into effect next year.

¶<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/us/politics/stalled-farm-bill-could-help-with-deficit-reduction.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print#p[BlvBlv]>Both
lawmakers have sponsored versions of a farm bill with steep spending
cuts that would help with deficit reduction, they said.

¶<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/us/politics/stalled-farm-bill-could-help-with-deficit-reduction.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print#p[TFBIon]>“The
Farm Bill is the only bipartisan deficit reduction bill that passed
the Senate this year. It’s only natural it should be part of a larger
deficit reduction agreement,” said Ms. Stabenow, who along with other
leaders of the House and Senate agriculture committees, met last week with
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to discuss including a new five-year bill
in any deal between the White House and Congress.

¶<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/us/politics/stalled-farm-bill-could-help-with-deficit-reduction.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print#p[WtOWtO]>While
the Obama administration has not decided whether to include the bill
in its talks with Congress, officials have indicated that they would be
open to overhauling some farm programs to narrow the deficit.

¶<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/us/politics/stalled-farm-bill-could-help-with-deficit-reduction.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print#p[WaaWaa]>When
asked about what role farm policy might play in the deficit reduction
talks, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said on “Face the Nation” on
Sunday that changes to farm subsidies were “very important” and could
“raise substantial amounts of money.”

¶<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/us/politics/stalled-farm-bill-could-help-with-deficit-reduction.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print#p[TfbMfh]>The
farm bill, which comes up for debate every five years and finances
hundreds of programs, including crop insurance and food stamps, expired on
Sept. 30. Most farmers have not seen any immediate repercussions because
the bill, passed in 2008, covers most subsidy and loan programs into the
next planting season, which begins in the spring.

¶<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/us/politics/stalled-farm-bill-could-help-with-deficit-reduction.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print#p[IJtTbw]>In
June, the Senate passed a $969 billion farm bill that saved $23
billion
over 10 years by cutting several farm subsidies and nutrition programs.
About $4.5 billion of the savings came from cuts to food stamps. The bill
would also eliminate $5 billion in so-called direct payments that are given
to farmers or landowners whether or not they grow crops.

¶<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/us/politics/stalled-farm-bill-could-help-with-deficit-reduction.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print#p[THATHv]>The
House Agriculture Committee has passed its version of the bill, which
saves even more: about $35 billion over 10 years. *About $16 billion of the
savings would come from cuts to the food stamps program. *The House version
would also eliminate $5 billion in direct payments.

¶<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/us/politics/stalled-farm-bill-could-help-with-deficit-reduction.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print#p[BboAgo]>But
because of disagreements among Republicans about whether the program
cuts are deep enough, the bill never made
it<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/us/congressional-deal-on-a-farm-bill-appears-unlikely.html>to
the floor for a vote.
*A group of conservatives is holding out for almost double the proposed
cuts to food stamps.*

¶<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/us/politics/stalled-farm-bill-could-help-with-deficit-reduction.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print#p[MLsMLs]>Mr.
Lucas said the bill’s only real chance for passage is if lawmakers
decide to use its savings as part of the debt negotiations.

¶<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/us/politics/stalled-farm-bill-could-help-with-deficit-reduction.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print#p[THATHA]>“The
House Ag Committee has demonstrated $35 billion in real cash savings —
it’s got to make us important to somebody in this process,” he said last
week after the meeting with the agriculture secretary.

¶<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/us/politics/stalled-farm-bill-could-help-with-deficit-reduction.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print#p[RECREC]>Representative
Eric Cantor, the House majority leader, said last month that
the Republican leadership would deal with the farm bill in some form before
the end of the year.

¶<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/us/politics/stalled-farm-bill-could-help-with-deficit-reduction.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print#p[MCdHds]>Mr.
Cantor did not say if that meant an extension of the 2008 bill or
whether the latest bill might be rolled into any fiscal deal. He did say
that the bill that passed in the Agriculture Committee did not have enough
votes to pass in the House.

¶<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/us/politics/stalled-farm-bill-could-help-with-deficit-reduction.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print#p[IOCIOC]>In
October, Congress passed a stopgap spending measure, known as a
continuing resolution, to ensure that programs like food stamps and
crop insurance continue at current financing levels until March 2013.

¶<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/us/politics/stalled-farm-bill-could-help-with-deficit-reduction.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print#p[BspNcp]>But
several programs, including those that provide assistance to dairy,
beef and poultry producers, have stopped because their financing ran out
when the farm bill expired. Among those is a program called the Milk Income
Loss Contract<http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=prsu&topic=mpp-mi>,
which paid dairy producers when milk prices fell too low or feed prices
climbed too high. Numerous conservation programs that helped farmers fight
erosion and preserve farmland have also expired or had their financing
reduced since the bill expired.

¶<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/us/politics/stalled-farm-bill-could-help-with-deficit-reduction.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print#p[AptCwu]>A
program that provided relief to beef and poultry producers in times of
drought and other disasters also expired, leaving farmers in
drought-stricken areas vulnerable. Congress was unable to renew the program
before lawmakers left for the November elections.

¶<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/us/politics/stalled-farm-bill-could-help-with-deficit-reduction.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print#p[WteAsf]>While
the expiration of farm programs presents challenges for farmers until
a new bill is passed, agriculture experts say a bigger issue is that on
Jan. 1, many farm programs will revert to a 1949 farm law, the last
permanent farm bill. All subsequent farm bills have been amendments to the
older law.

¶<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/us/politics/stalled-farm-bill-could-help-with-deficit-reduction.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print#p[CafTol]>Carl
Zulauf, a farm policy expert at Ohio State University, said the 1949
law is not suited to today’s realities. The old law, he said, would
reintroduce higher government price supports for corn, rice, wheat and
other crops and could lead to higher consumer prices and federal spending.

¶<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/us/politics/stalled-farm-bill-could-help-with-deficit-reduction.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print#p[IanIan]>If
a new farm bill is not in place, government-supported prices for milk
would be about four times higher than current law and about twice as high
as current market prices, Mr. Zulauf said.

¶<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/us/politics/stalled-farm-bill-could-help-with-deficit-reduction.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print#p[TNMTNM]>The
National Milk Producers Federation said that could cause milk prices
to
rise to $6 a gallon.

¶<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/us/politics/stalled-farm-bill-could-help-with-deficit-reduction.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print#p[TldTld]>The
1949 law did not provide price support coverage for crops like
soybeans, peanuts or sugar. The law also does not support programs that
encourage more fruit and vegetable production, help farmers’ markets, or
provide assistance to minority farmers. These programs are currently
without financing because they are authorized by the farm bill that
expired.

¶<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/us/politics/stalled-farm-bill-could-help-with-deficit-reduction.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print#p[MZsMZs]>Mr.
Zulauf said he expected Congress to deal with the farm bill before
Jan.
1.

¶<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/us/politics/stalled-farm-bill-could-help-with-deficit-reduction.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print#p[ChaBit]>“Congress
has almost always been late in passing farm bills,” he said. “The
last farm bill was passed a year after it expired, so this is not unusual.
But if they let agriculture programs revert to the old law, it would be a
disaster.”
  ____________________
The USA, one of the richest countries wants to deprive many of its most
unfortunate citizens one of the basics of life:  Food.

The current GOP:  mean spirited, selfish, and of those who claim to be
Christians: utter hypocrisy and dishonesty [See Matt 25: 31- 46].



-- 
Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
art.deco.studios at gmail.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20121206/2ce3188b/attachment-0001.html>