Key Vote “No” on Farm Bill Extension

On behalf of hundreds of thousands of FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to VOTE “NO” on the Farm Bill Extension.

The United States’ massive Farm Bill is a monument to government’s ineffectiveness and waste politics. Despite the fact that the world is a much different place than it was in the 1930s when agriculture welfare was conceived, the ag-industry is still forced to plod along under antiquated guidelines that pay farmers in fertile areas NOT to plant, and simultaneously subsidizes the same crops in harsh climates.  This is both foolish fiscal and environmental policy.

Subsidies driven by acreage give larger, wealthier farmers more money than the individual, small-family farmers the bill purports it saves.  The Washington Post estimated that $1.6 billion went to Americans who don’t even farm.

With 90 percent of the bill’s financial support going only to corn, cotton, rice, soy, and wheat – the largest and most politically connected growers, the potential for waste, fraud, and abuse is enormous.  Smaller farmers who grow more nutritious produce like fresh fruit and vegetables are virtually eliminated by a program that circumvents any sense of market and inflates the prices of the food Americans need most.

In truth, there is virtually nothing good to say about the bill and reform is out of the question.  Vote “No” on the Farm Bill Extension.  Let this be the Farm Bill’s last stand and look to new ideas for better farm policy like Senator Richard Lugar and Frank Lautenberg’s FRESH act that let the market work again, while still providing crop insurance for our farmers who work at the will of the weather.

We will count your vote on the Farm Bill Extension as a KEY VOTE when calculating the FreedomWorks Economic Scorecard for 2008. The FreedomWorks Economic Scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the Jefferson Award, which recognizes members of Congress with voting records that support economic freedom.

Sincerely, 

 

Matt Kibbe

President and CEO

FreedomWorks.org