The first vote in a legislative session is the most important. The Senate and the House of Representatives vote for their respective leaders. The leadership positions are consistently decided by which party has the majority.

Why are the Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader of the Senate so important? They appoint the committees. Making sure they have the majority in all the committees, they appoint their loyal party members. Then, the majority party controls legislation.

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) politely explained the collusion between rural Republicans and big-city Democrats that resulted in the $1 trillion (over ten years) Farm Bill.  This is a $1 trillion tax on all Americans, especially our children.  Lee referred to the bill as a:  “Beltway marriage of convenience between welfare and corporate welfare.”

 Instead of debating and voting for or against food stamps and farm insurance separately, this “marriage”  traded $800 billion of food stamps for $200 billion of farm insurance.  This is devious and deceptive and is commonly referred to as “logrolling” by America's political elites.

Much more devious was how Speaker of the House Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) forced rural and conservative Republicans to participate in the deception.  Outraged, Lee called this manipulation a “bullying, disenfranchising shake-down of the American west.”

The Federal government owns enormous amounts of land in western America and does not pay any local property tax.  Thus, the Federal government created the PILT (Payment In Lieu of Taxes) which sends money to local governments.  Lee explains:

“Under PILT, Congress sends a few cents on the dollar out west every year to make up for lost property taxes. There is no guaranteed amount. Washington just sends what it feels like.”

 This year the PILT was part of the omnibus spending bill – orchestrated by Senator Murray (D-WA) and Representative Ryan (R-WI) – which passed in January.  Except the PILT was removed from the omnibus bill just before the vote and subsequently made part of the Farm Bill. 

Apparently, Senator Reid and Speaker Boehner realized they had enough votes for the omnibus spending bill without the PILT.  To please lobbyists for the sugar industry, welfare, crop insurance, and many more special interest groups, Reid and Boehner desperately wanted to pass the Farm Bill.  With PILT as part of the Farm Bill, suddenly county commissioners from all over America – especially the west - were calling their Senators and Representatives demanding the passage of the Farm Bill.  Thus, fiscally conservative Republicans who had demanded separate debates and votes on food stamps and crop insurance were coerced to support legislation loaded with pork.  Again, this $1 trillion tax lands on our taxpaying laps, especially our children's laps.  Lee expounds:

 “This Farm Bill is a monument to every dysfunction Washington indulges to bend our politics and twist our economy to benefit itself at the expense of the American people.” 

He added that the Farm Bill is “collusion between both parties against the American people; it benefits the special interests at the expense of the national interest.”

Fearing baldness, I long ago stopped scratching my head at the public moves of the Republican hierarchy. With Obamacare crumbling like a celebrity marriage all around them, the Democrats are so desperate that they're focusing on raising the minimum wage-a "feel good" bunch of nonsense that benefits an age demographic that isn't even old enough to vote for them. But they need people to talk about anything but Obamacare. 

Savvy combatants don't fall for deflections, they look around to see what it is the other side doesn't want them to see. This year, the Republicans don't even have to look around. But, like ten year old boys with ADHD, that is all they seem to want to do. 

At the end of last year, I wrote that a narrow focus on Obamacare and school choice would serve the GOP well going into this year's elections. Imagine my mild surprise when party quickly got around to talking about the latter. 

Proving that there is almost no reason for optimism when it comes to GOP strategy lately, the House has decided to wrap up National School Choice Week by putting the focus on...a thoroughly awful farm bill and the immigration reform windmill at which it loves to tilt. 

Bravo, party betters. You managed not only to get off-topic, but did so with muddy message issues that aren't election winners. 

Let us for the moment go all WIlly Wonka and enter a world of pure imagination. Suppose that the farm bill and immigration reform weren't fraught with problems. If you need to belt down a couple of stiff drinks to get there, I'll wait. 

Even then, there isn't a good case to be made to take the focus off of Obamacare. And school choice is the one issue where conservatives can woo minority voters through principles and action rather than political pandering. 

If I were a full-blown conspiracy type, I would posit that it seems as if the GOP leaders are deliberately focusing on things that draw bolder battle lines between them and Tea Party conservatives, than them and the Democrats. I am, however, not ready to go there. 

Yet. 

There are few people outside of the RNC, NRCC and NRSC who wouldn't agree that the Republican party has had a messaging problem for quite some time. There are a couple of reasons for this. The first is that it hasn't had many prominent elected officials who can articulate the case for, well, anything. Thankfully, that is changing. 

The second, and more problematic, is that it chooses positions that are esoteric and/or numbers laden, which aren't easy to explain to the electorate. 

The current state of Obamacare and school choice both practically explain themselves. They provide a clear path to victory in November but the party hierarchy keeps wandering off to do other things because...just because. 

The current diversion is especially maddening, given the fact that the upper echelon of the GOP was just whining that the government shutdown prevented them from focusing on how awful the Obamacare rollout was. 

The good news: the Obamacare rollout is still awful. Feel free to fire up that focus any time, guys. 

“I’ll vote for your legislation, if you’ll vote for mine.”

It is never said in public, but the act occurs constantly within our government. Regularly, our leadership requests a specific legislation, and our politicians agree to the request if the leadership includes his project.  Politicians trade votes for their respective benefit, which is seldom for the benefit of most Americans.

Political insiders call this “log rolling,”  and the expense to the American public is enormous. This blatant taking of property incrementally reduces everyone’s wealth, security and freedom.

Our Federal government oligarchs - Republican and Democrats – have “log rolled” the Farm Bill.  Farmers and ranchers exchanged politically poisoning subsidies for crop insurance and food stamps for millions of Americans.  Indirectly, our grocery industry benefits tremendously as well.  And... our big, deceptive, incompetent government bumbles along reducing every American's wealth, security and freedom.

Obviously, a deal has been reached between Speaker of the House Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV).  Similar to the corruption and other deals that bought politicians' votes for ObamaCare, our power elites have secured enough votes for the passage of the Farm Bill.  This macro ”log-rolling deal” is about the money traded for crop insurance and the money spent on food stamps.  For years, lobbyists representing rural America and big city America have given big political campaign contributions to rural-Republican politicians and big city Democrats.   So, after months of private negotiations, the lobbyists and political oligarchs have agreed to spending $1trillion over 10 years.

Americans will be taxed $1 trillion to pay for agriculture insurance and food stamps,  which indirectly subsidizes the grocery industry.  Additionally, in order to secure enough votes for its passage, Republican and Democrat leaders have made lots of small deals.  For example, to placate Republicans seeking major reforms to food stamps there will be state demonstration work projects.  Another deal keeps catfish inspections in the Agriculture Department, where the bureaucracy protects the catfish industry from foreign competition.  Alas, there is a deal for almost every politician at the expense of $1 trillion to the taxpayers.

To sell this to America, the Senate and House committee chairs offered these vacuous statements, claiming bipartisan created savings and job creation:

"Today's bipartisan agreement puts us on the verge of enacting a five-year farm bill that saves taxpayers billions, eliminates unnecessary subsidies, creates a more effective farm safety-net and helps farmers and businesses create jobs," said Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)

"We are putting in place sound policy that is good for farmers, ranchers, consumers, and those who have hit difficult times," said House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK)

Hoping not to awaken Americans to this “log rolling” deal, Speaker Boehner rushed the bill through the House, where he needed and received Democrat support.  Then, Sen. Harry Reid will manipulate the bill through the Senate.  Quickly, President Obama will sign the legislation into law.

Again, political insiders call this “log rolling,”  and the expense to the American public is enormous.  It is a blatant taking of property, which incrementally reduces everyone’s wealth, security and freedom.

As one of our millions of FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to contact your representative and ask that he or she vote NO on the Farm Bill conference report in the House, H.R. 2462.  This final agreement reached between the House and Senate actually manages to be worse than the bills passed by each chamber separately, and does nothing to contain the hundreds of billions in spending on corporate welfare for farm corporations and an out-of-control food stamp program.

After spending several months germinating in a conference committee, the Farm Bill that has suddenly sprouted in Congress is a nearly $1 trillion debacle that renews nearly every bit of the original bill’s market-distorting crop insurance subsidies and price supports for five years. 

In addition, in attempting to pass this bill, the House Republican leadership is reneging on the one good accomplishment of last year’s contentious Farm Bill negotiations – the separation of food stamps from the main agricultural portion of the bill.  Allowing food stamps to continue to be used like a giant earmark to attract the votes of urban members of Congress guarantees that the program will see no significant reforms, even as it spends over $700 billion in the next ten years. 

Finally, the House leadership has once again brought up a giant (this time 950-page) bill with not even two full days to read it. This is the irresponsible practice of a body concerned only with perpetuating its own profligate spending habits, and not that of a Republican majority committed to limiting government.

For these reasons, I urge you to call your representative and ask him or her to vote NO on the Farm Bill conference report. We will count their vote as a KEY VOTE when calculating FreedomWorks’ Economic Freedom Scorecard for 2014. The Scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the FreedomFighter Award, which recognizes Members of Congress who consistently vote to support economic freedom.

Sincerely,

Matt Kibbe

President and CEO 

FreedomWorks

Capitol Hill Update, 27 January, 2014

House & Senate/Schedule: Both chambers are in session this week.  The House will only be in town through Wednesday, while the Senate will be in town continuously through Presidents’ Day (Feb 17th).

State of the Union Address: On Tuesday evening, President Obama will give the annual State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress.  He is expected to focus on his divisive message of income inequality, and to declare his intent to make law through executive order if Congress does not act. FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe will deliver a “pre-buttal” to the President at 8:45 on live.freedomworks.org, and afterwards you can watch the SOTU streaming online and join us on our live chat room.

House/Farm Bill: The Farm Bill has been trapped in conference as House and Senate members hashed out their differing version of the bill.  It is possible that the conference could report a bill and that it could receive a final vote in the House as soon as this Wednesday. Reports are that there will be almost nothing in the way of reforms to the Farm Bill, and that it will be a five-year extension. The food stamps and corporate welfare subsidies contained in this bill will cost over a trillion dollars over ten years.  FreedomWorks will oppose the bill.

House/ObamaCare: The House Committee on Ways and Means will be holding a hearing at 10 AM on Tuesday, January 28th on how ObamaCare’s 30-hour rule and employer mandates are hurting businesses and reducing job creation. Because ObamaCare fines businesses who have over 50 employees working more than 30 hours per week, many businesses are cutting employee hours (or just employees) in order to avoid the fines.

Senate/Flood Insurance: The Senate will finally consider their bill to delay reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), S. 1926.  Under a bill passed in 2012, flood insurance premiums were scheduled to be adjusted according to redrawn floodplain maps, so that homeowners in high-risk flood areas would have to pay higher premiums (as would be the case if the insurance policies were being offered in a free market).  This bill would delay these reforms, which will put taxpayers on the hook for a much larger amount when these high-risk areas inevitably flood again.  NFIP is already $20 billion in debt to taxpayers, and will incur tens of billions more in debt if it is not seriously reformed.

Capitol Hill Update, 3 December, 2013

House & Senate/Schedule: The House is in session this week, and is only scheduled to be in town through the end of next week (the 13th) before adjourning its session for the year.  The Senate, meanwhile, is out of town this week, and is theoretically scheduled to remain in session through the end of the month.

House/Financial Services: On Wednesday, the House is scheduled to take up the "Small Business Capital Access and Job Preservation Act", H.R. 1105. Sponsored by Rep. Hurt (R-VA), this bill is intended to roll back some of the new regulations on private equity firms, an important source of capital for small businesses. 

House/Patent Reform: The House's big bill this week is the "Innovation Act", H.R. 3309. Sponsored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), this controversial bill reins in so-called "patent trolls" - companies that buy up patents and then litigate against any business that they claim are infringing upon those patents. This bill has been divisive among even conservative groups, because while the abuse of patent infringement lawsuits does cost companies large quantities of money each year, the broad reach of this bill could potentially seriously hamper the ability of entrepreneurs to profit from their patented inventions. 

House & Senate/Farm Bill: The conference on the Farm Bill is expected to produce its final bill soon, with a vote in both chambers coming possibly next week. The final bill is not expected to contain any significant reforms on its earlier incarnations this year, and continues to provide out-of-control corporate welfare subsidies, a brand new crop insurance entitlement, and no structural reforms or significant reductions to food stamps.  

Senate/Defense: Before recessing two weeks ago, the Senate vote on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), S. 1197, failed on a mostly party-line vote.  Although the defeat of the bill was mostly a protest against Senator Reid's unwillingness to allow amendments, this NDAA itself is riddled with problems and Republicans would do well to continue their opposition to it. The Senate will take up the bill once more next week.

Senate/Minimum Wage: Senate Democrats have placed the "Fair Minimum Wage Act", S. 460, on the calendar, and may try to act on it before the end of the year. Sponsored by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), this proposal would increase the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour over the next few years, and would thereafter index the minimum wage to inflation, guaranteeing a small increase in the wage each year.  Increasing the minimum wage would be a terrible drain on an already stagnant jobs market and the economy at large, guaranteeing continued massive unemployment in the unskilled labor market.

House/Labor: In the House, Rep. Tom Price has introduced a bill, H.R. 3485, that combines a number of major reforms to federal labor laws. These include guaranteeing worker's rights to secret ballots in union elections, and allowing them to opt out of contributing to their union's political activities.  FreedomWorks has endorsed this bill - you can read our letter of support HERE.

House/Financial Services: Rep. Justin Amash has introduced a huge, comprehensive reform bill that addresses many of the main drivers of the risky lending that lead to the financial collapse of 2008.  Entitled the "New Fair Deal Banking and Housing Stability Act", H.R. 3550, this bill would eliminate Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration, and would eliminate all of the federal incentives that led banks to create the housing bubble, and which led to the massive bailouts of the housing and financial sectors. FreedomWorks strongly endorses this bill, which is (as the title suggests) part of the New Fair Deal initiative.

This week, I decided to research the Farm Bill to write a little bit about some of the “reforms” House Republicans who support the bill are so proud of. The CBO estimates savings of $35 billion over the next ten years (vs. the current baseline). The CBO is also notorious for underestimating costs, and it looks like this time won’t be any different. 

Agriculture policy in the United States is among the worst examples of pork spending, corporate welfare, harmful subsidies, and anti-free market government intervention in the world. And the Farm Bill that is going to conference in Congress doesn’t accomplish any real reform to these bad policies. In fact, in some respects it makes things worse. 

The Republicans who passed the bill are lauding the end of the direct payments program, a move which they project to save $9.3 billion. While the end of one wasteful entitlement is a step in the right direction, Congress has created a brand new entitlement known as shallow-loss crop insurance, which you can read all about here. 

While that article mentions a plethora of terrible things about shallow loss insurance, a new report by the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri indicates that “the 2013 House- and Senate-passed farm bills are likely to cost taxpayers more than previously thought.” Specifically, “FAPRI estimates that expanded federal crop insurance subsidies would increase taxpayer spending (compared to the current funding baseline) by $15.2 billion and $10 billion, respectively.” 

Catch that? Eliminating the direct payments program saves $9.3 billion, but the new shallow loss entitlement would increase spending by at least $15.2 billion in the House bill and $10 billion in the Senate bill. The supposedly “conservative” Republicans, who were able to pass their Farm bill without a single Democrat vote, are celebrating the end of direct payments while creating a brand new, market-distorting subsidy for farmers that will cost more taxpayer dollars than it saves. 

K Street wins, taxpayers lose.