Obama wants to cut Farm Subsidys

[Thump553]

Originally posted by: ironwing
Slap a five to ten year moratorium on farm subsidies. See what happens and re-initiate subsidies where they are in the public interest and permanently end the rest. As things stand, the agricultural economy in this country is so distorted by subsidies it is impossible to tell where subsidies are ensuring a stable food supply and where they are simply handouts to big business.

For a very rough outline, this idea appeals to me a lot. And just my whole mother's side of the family is in farming or related businesses (except for that portion that went military, and even then most went to farming upon retiring from the service).

 

[Atheus]

I think the logic for farm subsidies goes like this: if you remove them in a rich country it becomes uneconomical to farm there becasue of the cost of land and labour compared to poor countries, therefore food is increasingly imported, and the country loses the ability to provide for itself if there's a war and trade is difficult.

 

[Craig234]

Originally posted by: Atheus
I think the logic for farm subsidies goes like this: if you remove them in a rich country it becomes uneconomical to farm there becasue of the cost of land and labour compared to poor countries, therefore food is increasingly imported, and the country loses the ability to provide for itself if there's a war and trade is difficult.

The converse works too, of course, when our trade people find ways to force other nations to accept our crops to wipe out their markets.

Analogy: Zambia went from 47 to zero clothing factories after the US and Europe's charity-donated clothing was dumped there. Well-intended weserners donated the clothes to charity, and took a tax deduction; the charities made a few dollars selling mass quantities of the clothes to middlemen, mostly from India, who shipped the clothing to Africa and sold it to the local distributors. They couldn't compete with nearly 'free' clothing, and now you see them all running around in 'Nike' clothes with US sports team logos.

 

[First]

Originally posted by: Andrew1990

As part of his 2010 budget, Obama proposed phasing-out direct payments to farmers with sales of more than $500,000 a year, to save $9.8 billion over 10 years

Source

Hmm, with Obama wanting to spend hundreds of billions of dollars for the DOWN PAYMENT on universal health care, I guess he has to cut 9.8Billion on spending for the Farmers of America.

In my opinion, we shouldn't cut anything out of the farming part of this country. It is the backbone of the America culture and economy.

Opinions?

Uh, since when is farming the backbone of American culture? Not since the early 19th century has agrarian lifestyle been our backbone.

And it's fantastic if we're getting rid of all these farm subsidies, they are horridly inefficient, they just raise food prices. It's one of the few things both sides of the political spectrum are coming to agree on. I pray to god they get rid of them soon, they're one of the worst wastes of gov't money there is.

 

[cyclohexane]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
This is one of the few countries where the poor people are the fattest. I'd say there is quite enough food as it is; kill the subsidies. I can buy a gallon of milk for $2.60, a big silo of oatmeal for like $1.89, food is almost free. Huge mother fvcking hunk of cheese for $6-7.

qft.

 

[Hacp]

This is the wrong subsidy to cut. We all know that the biggest farm subsidy is food stamps. If we get rid of that plan, we'll save tens of billions of dollars.

 

[miketheidiot]

Originally posted by: Hacp
This is the wrong subsidy to cut. We all know that the biggest farm subsidy is food stamps. If we get rid of that plan, we'll save tens of billions of dollars.

only someone like you would get rid of a tiny subsidy for the poor to save subsidies for the rich.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Where is andrew...hiding under the bed?
It`s impolite to post as the OP and then run and hide...heheee

 

[yllus]

Excellent plan, as far as I've read on the subject. There's a great Wall Street Journal article I posted a few months back on the subject that's worth repeating:

Change You Can't Believe In

Since the last farm bill in 2002, the price of cotton is up 105%, soybeans 164%, corn 169% and wheat 256%. Yet when Mr. Bush proposed the genuine change of limiting farm welfare to those earning less than $200,000 a year, he was laughed out of town. The bill purports to limit subsidies to those earning a mere $750,000, but loopholes and spousal qualifications make it closer to $2.5 million. As Barack Obama likes to say, it's time Washington worked for "the middle class," which apparently includes millionaire corn and sugar farmers.

Another purported change is the arrival of "fiscal discipline," in Nancy Pelosi's favorite phrase from the 2006 campaign. Yet it turns out this farm extravaganza may bust federal budget targets even more than we thought a week ago. That's because the new price supports ? the guaranteed floor payments farmers receive for their crops ? have been raised to match this year's record prices.

The USDA reports that if crop prices fall from these highs to their norm over the next five years, farm payments will surge. For example, if corn prices return to $3.25 a bushel from today's $6, farmers would get $10 billion a year in support payments. If bean prices fall to their norm, they'd get $4 billion. Thus, if farm prices stay high, consumers face higher grocery bills and farmers get rich. If farm prices fall, taxpayers kick in the difference and farmers still get rich.

 

[brencat]

Absolutely get rid of the subsidies. As I recall, the Repubs have talked about this for years but always folded like a cheap tent when political opponents (Dems included) accused them of wanting to hurt family farms.

Frankly, I'm surprised this is coming from Obama but if he can get the Congress to pass it, good for him!

 

[IamDavid]

Farm subsidies are a joke! Most gt to very large companies like ADM.

 

[Budmantom]

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda
Where is andrew...hiding under the bed?
It`s impolite to post as the OP and then run and hide...heheee

I think he was surprise that Obama would cut anything.

You know he is going through the budget line by line and after he spends $4 trillion in the next 6 months watch out for the cuts.

 

[Eeezee]

Originally posted by: Hacp
This is the wrong subsidy to cut. We all know that the biggest farm subsidy is food stamps. If we get rid of that plan, we'll save tens of billions of dollars.

Do you seriously support corn subsidies? Do you seriously think it's okay that a corn farmer can burn his entire crop and still make an enormous profit?

So handouts to the poor are bad but handouts to the rich are acceptable?

 

[Hacp]

Originally posted by: Eeezee

Originally posted by: Hacp
This is the wrong subsidy to cut. We all know that the biggest farm subsidy is food stamps. If we get rid of that plan, we'll save tens of billions of dollars.

Do you seriously support corn subsidies? Do you seriously think it's okay that a corn farmer can burn his entire crop and still make an enormous profit?

So handouts to the poor are bad but handouts to the rich are acceptable?

Farm subsidies do need to be phased out, but it will take a while, or else, there will be a huge price shock. The more pressing matter is the food stamp entitlement. We need to get rid of it now. It raises prices for everyone else that actually worked to buy their food.

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: Hacp

Originally posted by: Eeezee

Originally posted by: Hacp
This is the wrong subsidy to cut. We all know that the biggest farm subsidy is food stamps. If we get rid of that plan, we'll save tens of billions of dollars.

Do you seriously support corn subsidies? Do you seriously think it's okay that a corn farmer can burn his entire crop and still make an enormous profit?

So handouts to the poor are bad but handouts to the rich are acceptable?

Farm subsidies do need to be phased out, but it will take a while, or else, there will be a huge price shock. The more pressing matter is the food stamp entitlement. We need to get rid of it now. It raises prices for everyone else that actually worked to buy their food.

LOL.... those crafty poor people ripping off the tax payer.

The only way food stamps drives up food costs is by creating more demand for food. Man, if only we could let those poor people starve, the food costs would drop for the rest of us....

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda
Where is andrew...hiding under the bed?
It`s impolite to post as the OP and then run and hide...heheee

he's been busy in arts & crafts class

 

[Eeezee]

Originally posted by: Hacp

Originally posted by: Eeezee

Originally posted by: Hacp
This is the wrong subsidy to cut. We all know that the biggest farm subsidy is food stamps. If we get rid of that plan, we'll save tens of billions of dollars.

Do you seriously support corn subsidies? Do you seriously think it's okay that a corn farmer can burn his entire crop and still make an enormous profit?

So handouts to the poor are bad but handouts to the rich are acceptable?

Farm subsidies do need to be phased out, but it will take a while, or else, there will be a huge price shock. The more pressing matter is the food stamp entitlement. We need to get rid of it now. It raises prices for everyone else that actually worked to buy their food.

Isn't that exactly what this is though? Just one step? We're not talking about a full subsidy removal, just a cut.

Furthermore, 50% of food stamp recipients are children, 17 and younger. I'd rather they be scraping by on food stamps than on welfare

 

[Andrew1990]

oops, sorry. I usually visit this forum in the morning and evening.

I guess I misunderstood what subsidy means.

 

[Eeezee]

Originally posted by: Andrew1990
oops, sorry. I usually visit this forum in the morning and evening.

I guess I misunderstood what subsidy means.

Wait, so what did you think it meant?

 

[babylon5]

Apology accepted!

Why dont' you visit here in afternoon too? How can you miss the mud throwing on both sides even for a minute!!

 

[JS80]

So they're shifting welfare money from farmers to the medical field. Great. Why can't they just cut all subsidies?

 

[Andrew1990]

Originally posted by: Eeezee

Originally posted by: Andrew1990
oops, sorry. I usually visit this forum in the morning and evening.

I guess I misunderstood what subsidy means.

Wait, so what did you think it meant?

I thought it meant that the government was not going to pay the farmers not to grow crops any more.

lol, I guess I totally misunderstood that term.

 

[CPA]

I can actually agree with Obama on this. Farm subsidies need to go.

One of my best friends used to teach at a school that serviced a lot of farming families. The school was flush with cash based on the tax base from the farmers. It was one of the richest schools, per student, in the state of Ohio.

 

[EXman]

Originally posted by: LegendKiller
Ever see a "poor farmer"? I never saw one and I grew up near farms. Especially now, many of the farms these days are owned by ag-corps, not individual farmers. They employ a small % of people these days. While being an important part of the country they CAN and SHOULD stand on their own.

Just like the citizens that we are giving a tax rebate to that don't pay tax?

I see poor farmers everyday. I also see rich farmers. Except they own horse farms. There are many Horsemen that are not rich though.

These are Red States Obama is just screwing them. Funny thing though Illinois will get a big screw job too. But he thinks Chicago is Illinois.

 

[Budmantom]

Originally posted by: Brainonska511

Originally posted by: Hacp

Originally posted by: Eeezee

Originally posted by: Hacp
This is the wrong subsidy to cut. We all know that the biggest farm subsidy is food stamps. If we get rid of that plan, we'll save tens of billions of dollars.

Do you seriously support corn subsidies? Do you seriously think it's okay that a corn farmer can burn his entire crop and still make an enormous profit?

So handouts to the poor are bad but handouts to the rich are acceptable?

Farm subsidies do need to be phased out, but it will take a while, or else, there will be a huge price shock. The more pressing matter is the food stamp entitlement. We need to get rid of it now. It raises prices for everyone else that actually worked to buy their food.

LOL.... those crafty poor people ripping off the tax payer.

The only way food stamps drives up food costs is by creating more demand for food. Man, if only we could let those poor people starve, the food costs would drop for the rest of us....

We were at the store the other day and in the check out lane the people in front of us were living high on the hog, big fat nasty stakes, shrimp etc no generics in their baskets, I was a bit surprised that they had food stamps.

I had to laugh because we live comfortably and have nothing to complain abut but we don't spend like that.