It’s That Time Again
Well, we've got down to it. The House has finally thrown down on the Senate and is about to either prompt a new farm bill or a whole lot of finger-pointing. So now is the last chance- either a new farm bill or an extension will pass in the coming weeks. It's hard to tell what will actually happen, but I can tell you this is the last opportunity for many good things to become a part of the next farm bill.
In that spirit, we've got a new action alert up. Who's the target?
Why, a previous favorite of ours, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Since it appears she's the
only one who is capable of forcing the action up there, we're
asking her- and asking you to ask her- to finally insist on a decent
farm bill. Hey, you have to go where the power is. So what does it
take for us to consider this a decent farm bill? I'll tell you. And
by the way, this is not even close to what we'd like the entire farm
bill to look like. This is the bottom line- what it takes to get a
farm bill worth passing at all:
1. Real payment limits reform: We really want what was in the Dorgan-Grassley amendment, but because we're eminently reasonable people, we'll settle for the 4 point plan we've been pushing. Yeah, it's wonky, but it would work.
2. Real support for sustainable agriculture:
We still believe we need $5 billion in new spending in the conservation
title. And $2 billion of that better go in the Conservation
Security Program, which has been repeatedly raided to pay for other
junk over the past 5 years.
3. Real investment in rural development: We must invest in the future of our rural communities by encouraging entrepreneurship, promoting new methods of agriculture, supporting small businesses. What kind of number am I talking about? Let's say $400 million over 5 years. Is that too much to ask for rural America? I think not.
So Nancy, help me out here. I want to support your farm bill. I really do. But you have to give me something. More importantly, you have to give family farmers and rural America something, and that something is most definitely NOT unlimited farm program payments and a big fat bunch of zero dollars for rural development programs.
So click here and go on over to our action page and give the Speaker a piece of your mind. We'd really appreciate it, and we're sure she will to.