USA Farm Bill

House of Representatives will begin open debate
today and thru the week on a new agricultual bill.
Recently, Bill Moyers' Journal spent two entire
hour long programs on how Congress rips off the
world and US consumers with pro-large farm business
support under the guise of benefiting the Us
farmers and foreign/domestic consumers of US
agricultural products. Moyers' second program
clearly showed how congression subsidies in the
farm bills have mainly gone to the large agricutural
businesses and very large farmers.( will point out
here that this policy has been considered a primary
reason for the fall of the Roman Empire. It is
called the "latifundia" agricultural system.)

Therefore, two points are in order. Go to the
transcripts of the Bill Moyers Journal and read the
two programs. Secondly, tune in to C-Span's coverage
of the farm bill which is scheduled to begin on
Tuesday, unless the leadership changes procedure.

There are many threads to follow with the Farm Bill
because it is so huge and perfect for giving the
agricultural lobbyists and congress people the ability
to have their way in farm legislation. I have already
heard a representative of the joint House-Senate
committee to reconcile the two versions say that the
bill will increase ethanol production by 30% by giving
incentives to produce more corn. There they go again!
We already know ethanol is not clean energy and is one
of the main culprits in the large spike in food prices
here and abroad as the corn is used fuel cars and not
food for the livestock. More acreage in corn means less
in wheat, oats, barley, soybeans, rice, etc. Already
some stores are rationing rice. So, if Congress gives
farmers more incentives, subsidies, to plant 30% more of
their available land into corn, what does that do to the
price of meat and the other grains?

At the same meeting, there is Iowa Senators, Harkins(D) and
Grassly(R), speaking highly in favor of the Bill...You see,
"not a dimes worth of difference in the two parties."