Gadget (fmr Marine)
05-21-2008, 01:57 PM
I would highly encourage you to send the following letter to your Senators and Congressmen (women) to vote to sustain this overblown special interest laden piece of legislation that will cost taxpayers a lot more that we should be spending on "gentleman" farmers and helping prop up the sugar industry with subsidies they should not be getting (amongst many other special interest add ons)
May 21, 2008
Senator
Constitution and Delaware Avenues, NE
Washington, DC 20510-0906
Dear Senator ,
You will soon vote whether or not to override President Bush's veto of
H.R. 2419, the 2008 Farm Bill. I urge you to sustain the veto of this
bloated, special-interest legislation.
Despite soaring commodity prices and farm income, the Farm Bill fails
to provide any significant reform of Depression-era agricultural
programs, which today overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest farmers and
mega-agribusinesses -- at the expense of taxpayers and consumers like
me!
If this Farm Bill becomes law, taxpayers will continue to finance
subsidies for married couples who farm and have adjusted gross income
(AGI) of as much as $1.5 million, as well as for people with AGI of
$500,000 who are not even full-time farmers! I understand that some
farmers today receive taxpayer-provided subsidies in excess of $1
million annually!
What's more, the new "permanent disaster fund" created by
this Farm Bill will burden taxpayers with another $3.8 billion to
benefit many of the same farmers who already receive the bulk of the
direct subsidy payments.
As a consumer, I also pay for these over-generous farm programs. Each
year, sugar price supports alone cost Americans $1.9 billion in higher
prices at the grocery counter -- not just for sugar, but also for
sugar-containing products, like cereal, baked goods, and candy. The
2008 Farm Bill guarantees domestic sugar producers a support price that
is nearly twice the world market price and also grants them an 85
percent share of the U.S. market, shutting out imports that could lower
costs.
At a time when many Americans are struggling with rising food prices,
continuing cost-inflating agricultural programs that further enrich a
wealthy few should be unconscionable.
Congress should go back to the drawing board and create a Farm Bill
that provides real safeguards for small family farms, while not
overburdening taxpayers and consumers.
I urge you again to vote to sustain President Bush's veto of H.R. 2419.
Sincerely,
(your name address, here....)
May 21, 2008
Senator
Constitution and Delaware Avenues, NE
Washington, DC 20510-0906
Dear Senator ,
You will soon vote whether or not to override President Bush's veto of
H.R. 2419, the 2008 Farm Bill. I urge you to sustain the veto of this
bloated, special-interest legislation.
Despite soaring commodity prices and farm income, the Farm Bill fails
to provide any significant reform of Depression-era agricultural
programs, which today overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest farmers and
mega-agribusinesses -- at the expense of taxpayers and consumers like
me!
If this Farm Bill becomes law, taxpayers will continue to finance
subsidies for married couples who farm and have adjusted gross income
(AGI) of as much as $1.5 million, as well as for people with AGI of
$500,000 who are not even full-time farmers! I understand that some
farmers today receive taxpayer-provided subsidies in excess of $1
million annually!
What's more, the new "permanent disaster fund" created by
this Farm Bill will burden taxpayers with another $3.8 billion to
benefit many of the same farmers who already receive the bulk of the
direct subsidy payments.
As a consumer, I also pay for these over-generous farm programs. Each
year, sugar price supports alone cost Americans $1.9 billion in higher
prices at the grocery counter -- not just for sugar, but also for
sugar-containing products, like cereal, baked goods, and candy. The
2008 Farm Bill guarantees domestic sugar producers a support price that
is nearly twice the world market price and also grants them an 85
percent share of the U.S. market, shutting out imports that could lower
costs.
At a time when many Americans are struggling with rising food prices,
continuing cost-inflating agricultural programs that further enrich a
wealthy few should be unconscionable.
Congress should go back to the drawing board and create a Farm Bill
that provides real safeguards for small family farms, while not
overburdening taxpayers and consumers.
I urge you again to vote to sustain President Bush's veto of H.R. 2419.
Sincerely,
(your name address, here....)