But this was the press release I got from Kerry's office when it passed:
“This farm bill will provide immediate help to many Massachusetts farmers and their communities. From nutrition programs that will help families afford healthy food, farm support efforts that assist struggling farmers address rising costs, protections for our nation’s natural resources, and investments in renewable energy sources like cellulosic biofuels to help reduce our dependence on oil, this bill will assist our rural communities stay afloat in a time of rising food prices and skyrocketing oil prices. I strongly urge the President to support farmers and rural communities in Massachusetts and across the country and sign this bill into law,” said John Kerry.
So, at least we got something from it!
I don't mean to pick on Sen. Kerry's office for sending me a press release, since all the others are answerable for their votes as well. Look, at some point our Democratic Congress is going to have to realize that the game has to change, that you can't give in to the lobbyists on 90% and expect us to be happy with the dregs. The reason why the Dems got their asses beat in 1994 was not just because Clinton was unpopular, but because the public correctly identified the Tom Foley congress as populated by hacks. This kind of stuff isn't helping.
Give us a reason to be enthusiastic. Otherwise we'll get disillusioned again, and you'll get swept out in 2010 for not getting results.
We grow sugar in Florida and Minnesota. In Florida we use so much fertilizer, pesticides, and herbicides that we’re poisoning the Everglades. In Minnesota the sugar beet production is incredibly inefficient.
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p>End result?
1. Too much pollution
2. High price of sugar
3. Lots of corn syrup as a substitute
4. Caribbean, Central, and South American nations lose an export market.
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p>It’s crazy. If we’d just quit the subsidies and protectionism for sugar, we’d all be better off. Prices of foods would come down a bit, the environment would do better, and we’d have better sources for sugar-based ethanol, helping to reduce gas prices.
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p>But how many states don’t have a substantial amount of farms? Off the top of my head, without any data backing me up, I’d guess
MA, RI, CT, NJ, MD, DE, HI, AK. So, how could there ever be a coalition formed to pull it back? Not going to happen without active leadership in the Senate and House at the same time.
… the wrong stuff.
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p>From Ezra:
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p>More on meat here.
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p>More on policy intervention against childhood obesity here.
The next time I want to get involved in a contested run for Congress, I’m tempted to try to offer a bit of barter to the candidate: A bunch of my volunteer time, in exchange for his/her commitment to read The Omnivore’s Dilemma within the next year.
over 11 years.
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p>I’m sure that whatever he’s earned from ABC and his book deals, Sam could have subsidized his own goat farm the $88,000 instead of taking it from me and other taxpayers.
Michael Capuano voted against the Farm Bill, for all the right reasons (if you use the link, scroll down). He explained:
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In general, I agree with Rep. Capuano’s point of view, however, just look at his district. How many farms do you think are in Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, and Chelsea? Very little risk for him to come out against it.
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p>In fact, Capuano endorsed Obama, and Obama has come out in support of the farm bill.
Congressman Capuano deserves kudos for his vote. One of the very few to stand up against the major industries like agribusiness, shipping, etc. that all get big pieces of it. For more on the farm bill and food policy, a couple great websites are http://www.iatp.org and http://www.grain.org.