Say Anything Blog

Tell us, Rob, why don’t GOP politicians say it?  Why don’t they campaign on the message that if family farms can’t compete without subsidies--they should just pack it in?

Instead, all we hear from GOP politicos in red states is that we have to protect the family farm at all costs.  Several years back, repealing the inheritance tax was sold by GOP politicians on the premise that we were dooming the family farm(this, despite the fact no one could find a family farm that went under because of that tax).

Yes.  Its their problem now.  I hope they do something about it.

But lets not forget that Democrats have had plenty of opportunities to fix the problem in the past as well and have failed, just as I expect Republicans will likely fail.  And lets not forget who was responsible for beginning many of these farm subsidy programs, though I’m guessing he didn’t envision today’s reality would be the end result.

Your attempt to turn this into a Republican-only problem is what is disingenuous.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

Willie Nelson and John Mellenkamp aren’t politicians.  And let’s face the facts, most red state elected officials are GOPers.

“And if that happened you just know Democrats would swoop down from the wings and start a campaign to “save the family farm evil Republicans.”

So, what you seem to be saying is that the GOP is afraid of doing what’s right because they’re worried about the Dems?

Thus far, Rob, you’ve mentioned two singers and about 4-5 Dems as being responsible for farm subsidies. You have yet to name 1 GOPer, although they’re in the majority in farm states.  So, who’s partisan?

Your excuse for your party not doing what’s right is that they’re worried the Dems will take advantage of them.  Again, who’s partisan if you’re willing to excuse GOP bad behavior because the Dems *might* exercise the same bad behavior?

Jadegold, did you not look at the link at the bottom of the post?  Bush himself took this issue on two years ago and crapped out on it.  I blame him for that.

I also blame every agriculture red state politician, be they GOP or Democrat, who refuses to take their constituency to task over this issue.  The truth of the matter is that almost no politicians have been willing to take this issue on.

And I’m not excusing anybody.  I said that they’re afraid to take it on.  And they are.  So are Democrats.  There’s no excuse for that behavior.

You just aren’t happy unless you can blame the entirety of any problem on Republicans.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

I don’t know why they don’t say it.  They’re probably afraid that they’ll anger voters in a lot of red states.  And if that happened you just know Democrats would swoop down from the wings and start a campaign to “save the family farm evil Republicans.”

Thanks to Willy Nelson and John Mellancamp, this has become an emotional issue no politician is willing to touch.  Because last time I checked, Democrats weren’t exactly all that willing to fix the problem either.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

Again, Rob, the problem is the GOP’s.  They’re in power in those states; they’ve got the power in both Houses of Congress and the WH.  They own the problem.

Worrying about what the Dems *might* do is disingenuous.

Willie Nelson and John Mellenkamp aren’t politicians.

I’m aware of that.  What I’m saying is that they are responsible for making public opinion what it is with regard to this issue, at least in part.  Though a pretty big part.  That’s all we hear from all politicians who come here, even the Democrats.  Dick Gephardt, Joe Lieberman, Wesley Clark, John Edwards, John Kerry...all of them visited North Dakota during Democrat nomination campaign.  All of them spouted the same nonsense about saving the family farm.

I’m saying that the GOP is afraid of taking on the issue lest they lose votes in red states.  The Democrats won’t take it on because it would mean that they wouldn’t be able to pick up any votes in red states.  As a political issue, its a stinker.

And it ticks me off.  My state, by itself, receives billions in farm aid.  And we only have a population of roughly 650,000.  Other states are more.  Clearly this is too much.

My state’s congressional representation is all-Democrat.  They are responsible for a ton of the farm legislation that has lead us here.  Personally, I blame all politicians from both parties.  Each side has, at one time or another, had the power to alleviate this situation and has failed to do so.

You, however, will no doubt want to blame only Republicans.  Given your partisanship, I’d expect nothing less.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

This is an issue where the problem would not be as looming had the 17th Amendment not been passed. 

Senators would have realized that subsidizing farmers to NOT grow something, or subsidizing farmers to grow something that is not in demand, was beyond stupid.  They would not have voted for it, as there would be no political advantage to doing so. 

With a popular vote, Senators have a reason to keep the electorate happy.

Jadegold,

I don’t recall Bill Clinton making an effort against the farm subsidies, the way GWB did....

Before you point your finger only at GOP, perhaps you ought to remember that farm subsidies began with FDR and has outlasted any democrat or republican dominance in the congress and in the farm states.

Jadegold,

I don’t recall Bill Clinton making an effort against the farm subsidies, the way GWB did....

Before you point your finger only at GOP, perhaps you ought to remember that farm subsidies began with FDR and has outlasted any democrat or republican dominance in the congress and in the farm states.

Tom Daschle, Democrat, was instrumental in the 1996 effort that changed subsidies law to include reimbursements for people who own farm lands but never intend to plant a seed. Billions are wasted to these folks who own acres of formerly farm lands but are just sitting on it.

Jadegold, what do you know about Daschle’s role in farm subsidies?