Say Anything Blog

From Fox News:

Nearly everyone has seen the dairy industry's funny TV commercials. But some independent farmers have got a problem with the "Got Milk?" campaign.

That's because they're forced to pay for the ads through a government-instituted dairy check-off program that cost thousands of dollars just last year.

Some have taken the matter up in court, claiming the ad campaign violates their freedom of speech. Many farmers don't think they should have to pay for advertising they feel misrepresents their products.

But the dairy industry credits the "Got Milk?" TV commercials with helping increase milk consumption, providing better prices for milk producers and reducing dependence on taxpayer dollars for government-support payments during tough economic times.

I think its a little hypocritical for these farmers to be upset about their money going toward these ads when money is taken out of the average American's paycheck to go toward propping up their industry. Farmers are so dependent on government subsidies its ridiculous. Don't believe me? Consider this:

North Dakota receives more government subsidies than any other state in the union. From 1995 through 2002, North Dakota received over 4.5 billion dollars in agriculture subsidies. That's approximately 750 million dollars a year.

North Dakota also has more millionaires per capita than any other state in the union.

To me, that means there are a whole lot of people on the dole in my state that don't need to be.