186 Republicans said NO to rural Americans ... NO to farmers ... NO to nutrition ... NO to food stamps ... NO to conservation ... and NO to energy independence for our country.
Think about it -- the NO to energy independence was really a NO to national security. If the United States were energy independent now, we wouldn't be in Iraq. Nor would we be reading stories -- almost every day, it seems -- about the terrible care our veterans are getting when they come home in need of medical care. Nor would more than 3600 American soldiers have died in combat.
Of course, the Republicans' NO vote was really an echo. The President calls a tax loophole a tax increase, and just like lemmings ... there go the Republican Minority ... off the cliff and against the country.
Congratulations to House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn) for passing the Farm Bill -- H.R. 2419, the Farm, Nutrition and Bioenergy Act of 2007, and congratulations for closing the loophole, too. It's interesting to note that this week President Bush called the loophole a tax increase, but five years ago he supported closing it. What closing the loophole does is make it more difficult for foreign companies with U.S. subsidiaries to use offshore entities to avoid paying taxes on profits made in the U.S. Why Mr. Bush, or anyone for that matter, would want to allow foreign companies to skip paying taxes on the money they made here is beyond me.
Closing the loophole saves $3.2 billion dollars, money that will be spent on nutrition programs for children. Overall, the legislation must be considered landmark, since there are a number of "firsts" in the bill. For example, the New Direction Farm Bill:
- Includes specialty crop growers in the farm safety net
- Promotes fruits and vegetables and organic agriculture
- Prohibits payments to millionaires and stops others from evading farm payment limits
- Increases investments in renewable energy by 600%
- Prioritizes nutrition while providing stronger assistance to low income families.
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"Prohibits payments to millionaires and stops others from evading farm payment limits"
I must take exception to that statement. The farm bill passed by the House actually is a step backwards on payment limits.
On direct payment, which are paid regardless of price or even current production, the House farm bill raises the limit 50% for married farmers. Well over 90% of farmers are married. Now the largest, most aggressive, expansion-oriented farms will have another $40K per year to drive their neighbors off the land.
Another type of farm payments are marketing loans. Marketing loans pay out when prices are low. In the 2002 farm bill, marketing loans were capped at $150K, but a loophole (commodity certificates) allowed for unlimited marketing loan benefits. This is the primary loophole used by all of those so-called farmers that receive million dollar farm program checks. The House farm bill completely removes the payment limit on marketing loans. So you don't need a loophole any more, because there isn't any limit to get around. At all. And by the way, marketing loans are what is used to drive down the price of cotton around the world, negatively impacting the lives of many dirt-poor cotton farmers in Africa.
The House farm bill does place a million-dollar adjusted gross income limit on farm payments. However, if you're married that limit is doubled. And if you're married and do not file taxes jointly, as long as one spouse keeps their income below $1 million you are eligible. In fact, if Speaker Pelosi owned a farm she could be eligible for farm payments even though her husband is enormously rich- as long as her own income was below $1 million. Which it is according to disclosure forms.
I could go on. There are some decent items in the House farm bill. But they're not to be found in farm programs. And the statement that the House farm bill will stop payments to millionaires and stop people from evading payment limits is nothing but House Ag Committee propaganda. On the crucial issue of payment limits, the Committee- and House Leadership- sold out family farmers and rural America yet again.
Dan Owens
danowens@gmail.com
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