Not that anyone totally knows for sure, but it could be that we're looking at a one to two month extension of the current Farm Bill -- coming soon?
According to Jerry Hagstrom reporting for DTN, House Agriculture Committee Chair Collin Peterson has blamed some Senators who want to turn the Farm Bill into a tax bill.
"Credit" for the delay in passage of the Farm Bill can also be blamed on other factors, including USDA, which even with the confirmation of the new Secretary, isn't exactly cooperating and on Western and Southern Plains Senators who are committed to creating a new permanent disaster program. Of course, this "blame" list leaves out the environmentalists who had hoped to turn the Farm Bill into a healthy food/health land bill, the corporate interests who specifically oppose change in farm programs and the President who again and again has promised to veto the Farm Bill if the costs threaten his tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans -- Bush Threatens Farm Bill Veto: Opposes Public Nutrition, BioFuel and Land Stewardship Programs.
Meanwhile, rural communities and their farming constituencies are paying the price. Senate Agriculture Chairman Tom Harkin's longstanding commitment to stronger funding for rural development programs, conservation and programs strengthening school lunch are also at stake. See House Farm Bill, Senate Farm Bill and USDA Farm Bill for detail on the differences.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment