Thursday, December 06, 2007

STOP the Destruction of Rural America by bad Politics

Watching the candidates traipse across Iowa with the promise of two pickups in every garage to anyone who might vote for them is how we got here.

The whole farm program has destroyed the American middle.

Like all well intentioned programs it started out good. Like busing, like equal opportunity employment, like fair housing, like ADA for the handicapped, like food stamps and section eight, like all sorts of well meaning programs that have unintended consequences we have a farm policy that has become surreal.

This is one program that needs to be full stopped. No more money. Halt. The others need revisiting in implementation. I can think of no compelling reason why any farm program at all should be continued for another day.

It won't kill off the farmers who shouldn't be killed off and will kill off the ones who should. Business wise.

All American Blogger, a group of think tank types have published a long thoughtful piece regarding this whole issue. It's worth reading if you care. Even if the whole issue doesn't matter to you, what should matter is the rebirth of the central plains. That will only come with pain. A great deal of pain. All births do, ask my wife.

Part One
How we got there. What happened that we now subsidise agriculture at over a billion dollars per working day in America. The history of why and how of Farm Subsidy politics.

Part Two
How farm programs are simply corporate welfare, leading to consolidation of family farms thereby destroying the social and economic fabric of rural America.

Part Three
Scams Scandals and outright stupidity. How the money congress and the president sign into law ends up in the hands of millionaires, billionaires and dead people by fraud. The haves get more and the ones who might have benefited from it all get nothing or peanuts.

Part Four
The anti Humanitarian effect of bad farm policy. The world suffers so Agriculture in America can continue it's inefficient ways. Not good for the world, not good for America. Why do we continue?

Tomorrow
What would happen if all farm programs and subsidies were cut off NOW. NO Option. Sink or Swim. It's painful but good. We must do this and stop spending billions on this folly.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It's about time you and Jimmy Carter agree on something.