Bleary Eyed, Post Kind "Fairness" Amendment Farm Bill

Yes, I'm still tagging these posts "food."  And yes, I do see the irony in that.

Lucky (or unlucky, as the case may be) for me the House debate on the Farm Bill didn't come until last night -- meaning I was able to watch the blow by blow on C-SPAN until I couldn't take it anymore (meaning, fell asleep).  And in case you hadn't heard it yet, the true reform legislation that was put in front of our lawmakers, Wisconsin Representative Ron Kind's version of the bill, was voted down by a vote of 309 to 117.  To quote Kind himself, "change is tough in this place."

Otherwise, it was a long, drawn-out argument about how the non-partisan compromises that were developed under Ag Committee Collin Peterson's leadership, which all parties were in support of and willing to vote for, were completely destroyed when Peterson and the democrats went to Charles Rangel and the Ways and Means Committee and "asked" for a tax increase to offset increased Farm Bill spending.  That so-called tax increase, in case you haven't been following along, is a requirement that foreign-owned factories operating in the U.S. be required to pay taxes.  This is seen, by republicans, as being anti-job and anti-American.  And they're bitter because it was done behind their backs, "after all the great work that was done."

All of this wrangling over a Farm Bill that is weak weak weak and, contrary to what the voice of Washington is suggesting, doesn't materially reform the Farm Bill at all.  Dan Owens over at the Center for Rural Affairs  had it right even before the final vote on the Kind Amendment:

The Center for Rural Affairs has been fighting for legislation that could help revitalize rural America for decades. We have been fighting to say, once and for all, that the farm bill is about helping small and mid-sized farms and rural communities. Period. You can't do that while you're sending million dollar subsidy checks out the door to mega-farms that drive their neighbors out of business. This farm bill in the House will keep those checks flowing. So don't tell me about "necessary" compromises. Of all groups interested in the farm bill, rural America and family farmers have received the least benefit from it for decades, and the current House farm bill won't change that.

This is why we get angry. These legislators get up and talk about how the farm bill is about supporting rural America and family farmers. There is probably things in the farm bill that do so. We need more policy designed to support rural communities, and the values they hold. A lot more. Those rural values are the backbone of this country. But the principle of supporting true family farms and rural communities is lost in the "compromises" that always occur come farm bill time. We need policy designed to support rural communities. We are not compromising on our principles. And we never will.

What's next?  This morning at 9am eastern the debate begins again.  There's a real possibility of a final vote today, so it's likely there's to be much more whining and gnashing of teeth.  What you need to know?  The Farm Bill is likely to come out of the House status quo with the 2002 Farm Bill, and we have another 5 years to figure out how to change it with our votes.  More to come.

Other great coverage of the Farm Bill debate at The Ethicurean, Farm Policy, Plenty, Daily Kos, and from Dan Morgan at the Washington Post.

Late addition to the post:  If you want to know one of the reasons the Farm Bill debate is such a big deal, read Sharon's article on where we stand with the energy crisis at Casaubon's Book.

Comments

[cherryriver]

I was reading your blog (just because I like it) and was surprised to find myself, a know-nothing, linked in this post. :) Looking at the reading list to the left, we obviously have a few tastes in common, though. Blog for Rural America has a little bit of new stuff from this morning; but it's shameful how little the farm bill process is being covered by the mainstream news sites. It makes it much more difficult to stay informed--(renaissance grrrl @ dkos)