Still endlessly waiting on a new Farm Bill
Well, yeah, eventually there will be one. But first the usual suspects have to endlessly strut and preen.
In an often-contentious hearing (in mid-July), members of the House Committee on Agriculture fired shots at each other over the Biden administration’s attempts to regulate farm pollution.
But the hearing on environmental regulations covering agriculture also exposed the wide, if predictable, fault lines that have developed between Democrats and Republicans over the farm bill, the massive piece of legislation that governs the country’s nutrition and agricultural policy.
In his opening comments, the committee’s ranking member, David Scott (D-Ga.), slammed Chairman Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) for his “stubborn refusal to engage on a bipartisan farm bill,” calling the delay in moving it forward “irresponsible for the American people.”
The dueling parties often struggle to get the sweeping legislation over the finish line. But this year the disputes over the bill, perhaps more than ever, have centered on climate issues. An especially divisive and fraught presidential election year appears to be complicating and stalling the process toward passage.
“It was not written to be used as a serious bill,” Scott said. “It was written to be used as a campaign slogan.”
(Inside Climate News)
As always, another big issue is SNAP, with right-wingers claiming to want big cuts. SNAP use actually varies by state without clear correlations as to individual states’ overall political hues. But certainly a lot of elderly lifelong conservatives everywhere would be hurt by cuts. Do wingnuts in Congress take for granted that “their” voters will remain loyal even as they tear the sustenance from their very mouths? Or do they know it’s all just for show? Presumably the mindsets vary, among the individuals involved. But certainly a lot of right-wingers in Congress don’t appear to be well-connected to reality, to say the very least.
The following is from a related story that I found to be interesting and worthwhile, though highly annoying as well.
While farm bureaus across the Midwest lobby for agricultural issues, a seven-month long investigation by the Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism, the University of Missouri, the University of Illinois and Investigate Midwest found that isn’t where the advocacy stops.
A review of campaign finance records, social media, lobbying disclosures, websites, and policy books in nine Midwestern states revealed that state farm bureaus threw their weight behind political and social causes with little or nothing to do with farming:
-Election security laws in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, and Wisconsin
-State constitutional amendments and/or ballot initiatives in Indiana, Michigan, Missouri and Ohio
-Availability of government services for immigrants lacking permanent legal status in Michigan, Wisconsin, Missouri, and amnesty for immigrants lacking permanent legal status in Illinois
-Removal of tenure in Illinois, opposition to teaching critical race theory in Indiana, and advocating for teaching abstinence in Missouri
-Reading the bible in schools and voluntary prayer in Indiana and Missouri
-Recognition of only two genders: female and male, in Missouri
(Investigate Midwest)
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