The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste has an urgent action request. The Senate will soon vote on the 2007 Farm Bill. Tell your Senators to put the interests of taxpayers and consumers first by voting in favor of amendments that would bring about true reform of Depression-era agricultural policies! Below is their request details; if you agree, please take action at this website or send a message on your own:
Dear _,
I urge you as strongly as possible to tell your Senators to support TRUE REFORM in the 2007 Farm Bill. The Senate will begin debating the Farm Bill tomorrow, so it is urgent that you send a message to your Senators right away!
The federal government’s Depression-era web of agricultural subsidies, price and supply controls, and import restrictions long ago outlived their justification. Rather than assisting small family farms, federal agricultural policies overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest farmers and mega-agribusinesses -- to the detriment of those farmers most in need. Today, 60 percent of farms receive either no subsidies or less than $2,000 annually, while the top 10 percent of farm subsidy recipients collected 72 percent of total payments in 2003.
What’s more, this handout to well-heeled, politically influential agribusiness is financed on the backs of American taxpayers and consumers like YOU!
At a time when agricultural income is at record highs and commodity prices are soaring, taxpayers have been paying an average of $20 billion annually for the most expensive farm subsidy payments in history. Sugar price supports alone cost us all $1.9 billion each year in higher prices at the grocery counter, not only for sugar, but also for sugar-containing products, like cereal, baked goods, and candy.
The Farm Bill passed by the House of Representatives in July not only failed to reform existing agricultural policies, it increased subsidy payments. The Senate Agriculture Committee made this bad bill even worse by raising taxes on U.S. businesses in order to pay for yet another disaster assistance program for farmers.
As the full Senate takes up the 2007 Farm Bill, Sens. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) will offer an amendment to replace existing farm subsidies with an insurance program that would enable farmers to mitigate weather and market risks. This would provide a real safety net for farmers, instead of doling out excessive payments to the wealthiest farmers whether they need them or not.
Sens. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) will also offer an amendment to cap annual subsidy payments at $250,000 per farmer and close the loopholes that allow mega-farms to get unlimited payments by creating a complex web of multiple entities. Right now, some farmers receive taxpayer-provided subsidies in excess of $1 million annually!
Please tell you Senators to support taxpayers and consumers and bring TRUE REFORM to federal farm policy by voting in favor of the Lugar-Lautenberg and Grassley-Dorgan amendments!
Sincerely,
Thomas A. Schatz, President
***The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), the nation's largest taxpayer watchdog organization with more than one million members and supporters nationwide.
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