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KIND: PROPOSED FARM BILL NOT GREAT
Monday, May 12th, 2008 -- 11:24 am
Posted by Riley Hebert-News Director
Already facing plenty of uncertainty over fuel prices, odd spring weather and volatile commodity markets, it looks like farmers will also have to wait for Congress to pass a Farm Bill.
Rep. Ron Kind (D-La Crosse) finds himself in the odd position of agreeing with Pres. Bush, who will likely veto the five-year, nearly $300-billion measure.
"It's tough to justify to the American taxpayer that there would still be subsidies going to a farming operation with an adjusted gross income of $1.5-million," Kind laments, "I think we can do better. I think we can tighten up these subsidy programs."
The White House apparently agrees.
But, Kind notes the battle is more regional than political.
"You've got very powerful cotton and rice interests that have tremendous influence in the Senate. You've got a handful of very powerful families in the southern states that don't want any changes, and they're the primary beneficiaries," Kind explains.
In contrast to pure subsidies, he says the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) is a much more honest "safety net".
"There's no payments going out to dairy producers because milk prices have been high. That's really how these safety nets really ought to work."
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