Thanks For Almost Growing Some Tiny Little Cajones, Boys.
Well crap, it finally, oh dear Lord finally, appears that the Republican congress has found the wherewithal to talk.
It’s over the $12 billion farm bail out.
Oh, they are throwing themselves an adorable little fit. Listen too some of this:
“This is becoming more and more like a Soviet type of economy here: Commissars deciding who’s going to be granted waivers, commissars in the administration figuring out how they’re going to sprinkle around benefits,” said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). “I’m very exasperated. This is serious.”
“Taxpayers are going to be asked to initial checks to farmers in lieu of having a trade policy that actually opens and expands more markets. There isn’t anything about this that anybody should like,” said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 3 GOP leader.
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) said Trump is giving farmers “golden crutches,” while Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said “this bailout compounds bad policy with more bad policy.” Toomey and GOP Sens. Jeff Flake of Arizona and Bob Corker of Tennessee said their legislation to tie the president’s hands on tariffs should pick up new steam now that the Trump administration is distorting the market.
Now cut this out and hang this on your refrigerator because come pickin’ time, every one of these guys will support the bailout because it’s an enormous gift to farmers right before the mid term elections.
Big hat, no cattle.
Thanks to everybody for the heads up.
I think this is the obvious outcome of using tariffs to bend trading partners to your will. Frequently, YOU get bent over the sofa.
1I will probably express this incorrectly but. trump says he will give farmers money because of the tariffs he imposed is hurting them. Now he says be patient and this will make them very wealthy, I always thought farmers wanted to farm not stand in line for hands outs. Will they have to pay this bailout back later, isn’t trump in reality buying votes?
2…..and, of course, they are going to want to cut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security to fund those welfare benefits to farmers, which are needed because of the goofy trade war, which is necessary because….
3Will the farmers that get the trump handouts also get an Obama phone? snark!
4I think farmers know what happened, and why, and they won’t support “the orangutan who walks like an imbecile” in 2020. Most farmers–those who aren’t in Congress or on the boards of large corporations–want sell what they produce, not suck at the public teat.
5List as of Dec 2017 of lawmakers (Congress) receiving crop subsidies/handouts!!
https://www.ewg.org/agmag/2017/11/federal-lawmakers-harvest-15-million-farm-subsidies#.W1iu7dVKjm6
6This infuriates me.
Some of my little bride’s distant relations live in the most G*d forsaken parts of the Panhandle and west Texas. Most raise and sell cotton or hay or milo or alfalfa. A few raise and sell cattle. They are ultra-con. The farmers are sure they work hard. They voted for Spanky in part because he was gonna fix their single issue, estate taxation, so they could pass their farms and ranches to their kids and grandkids just like their farms and ranches were passed to them by their parents and grandparents.
So Spanky’s tariffs made collateral damage/unintended consequences of these folk and they are Spanky’s dupes, supporting him blindly regardless of what shameless act he instigates, Spanky is going to get his dupes in Congress to mitigate the damage he caused.
This infuriates me.
7$12 billion? Well, that might be enough. But how will it be paid out? Ten to one the guvmint is going to require criteria that is totally unnecessary, especially when a farmer is already on the records of his local Farm Service Agency office. And then he/she may only get a pittance doled out monthly until the $$ runs out.
8Will any of the 12B go to those who need or reserve it? I don’t think so.
9My question is will it be the “small/average” farmer or the big AG corps who receive this bailout?
10He stepped in it, and now wants the taxpayers to bail him out. Grrrrr
11I never want to hear another word about WELFARE from the GOP and their supporters. Farmers have been getting a handout for decades and now $12 billion more. Not to mention the phoney ethanol subsidy. As usual the GOP runs up the deficit and goes after social programs. Those days are over and hopefully so is the GOP. Vote!
12Big Agra is getting the lion’s share. The wealthy owners are Dump’s people and they must be appeased. Little guys lose.
131.GOP President screws up and makes other countries mad.
2.Taxpayers are on the hook for billions because of #1.
3.GOP in Congress yell about poor little guys who need their help (though usually pretending it has nothing to do with #1).
4.Billions in #2 are going to go to Big Whosis and not the small producers that are being yelled about in #3.
5.GOP in Congress will cut help to poor, sick, old, and young to make up for #4.
6.GOP in Congress will campaign by talking your ear off about #3.
Is any of this news?
14Excellent synopsis of what passes for governing, Rhea.
15local farmer (in VA) was interviewed by the local news yesterday. he’s quite disappointed in the tariffs tho did not mention any issue he might have with current gov’t. he grows tobacco and cattle & reckons that, out of the $12 bil handout, each farmer in the US will get ~$30. not sure about that math….are there still that many small-medium farms in this country? i reckon big corporate farms will survive the current idiocy if not make out like bandits.
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