NEEDY GREEDY

"The word 'politics' is derived from the word 'poly', meaning 'many', and the word 'ticks', meaning 'blood sucking parasites'." - Larry Hardiman

UNRAVELING THE MYSTERY OF GOVERNMENT
WHERE DOES ALL THAT CASH GO TO?

Subsidies Suck Taxpayer Cash

"Here on Capitol Hill, though, it is pretty much farm politics as usual. As Congress works toward final passage of the farm bill, it is poised to continue most of the existing farmer subsidy programs... The farm bill, which comes along once every five years and will cost upward of $300 billion..."

“It really is astounding,” said Representative Ron Kind, Democrat of Wisconsin, who has pushed for broad changes in farm subsidy programs. “It’s as if this farm bill is being negotiated in a vacuum.”

“It’s like the black hole in space that astronomers talk about: everything gets sucked in and nothing ever comes out,” he said. “This is the black hole of agriculture. It doesn’t make sense, but farmers continue to get it.” - Senator Tom Harkin

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/24/washington/24farm.html?_r=1&hp=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1209046496-eGiyi+qQGYI7fyHgj/7naA

At a time when the whole world soon will be facing hunger, and the US government is diverting acreage from food to biofuels, I'm having difficulty rationalizing the need for farm subsidy programs. Congress is just pulling our leg, right? Somehow the notion of a $300 billion subsidy for the needy (subsidies=welfare=needy) seems a tag greedy to me. -2q(Jim)

Grass Roots Philosophy

• "Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself." - Leo Tolstoy
• "Virtue is its own punishment." - Aneurin Bevan
• "I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it." - Harry S Truman
• "Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, "Where have I gone wrong?"/ Then a voice says to me, "This is going to take more than one night."" - Charles M. Schulz