|
Heritage
Foundation
Morning Bell: Ask John Boehner WHY
Amy Payne
June 13, 2013
Speaker
of the House John Boehner
(R-OH) said yesterday that he will support the bloated farm bill. But
as
Heritage has been highlighting, this bill does not do what most people
think it
does.
The
nearly trillion-dollar bill
actually doles out money to some surprising sources and frankly, it’s
not very
farm-related.
As
the House prepares to debate the
bill next week, here are a few questions for Boehner and other Members
of
Congress:
WHY
is the “farm” bill 80 percent
food stamps?
At
least one Senator was pretty
blunt about the purpose of the food stamps: just to “get the farm bill
passed.”
Such a massive program deserves to be considered—and debated—on its
own, not
lumped in with unrelated programs and slapped with the title of “farm.”
Food
stamp spending has doubled
under the Obama Administration, and participation is at historic highs.
For a
bill that’s 80 percent food stamps, the “farm” bill clearly has the
wrong name.
WHY
does the “farm” bill tax
Christmas trees?
A
House committee added the Obama
Administration’s proposed new tax on fresh Christmas trees into the
farm bill.
Didn’t see that coming, did you?
WHY
would the House “farm” bill
spend 56 percent more than the last farm bill, especially given our
massive
federal debt?
The
House farm bill is projected to
cost $940 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The
last farm
bill, in 2008, was projected to cost $604 billion. By any measure,
passing a
bill that is projected to be 56 percent more expensive than the last
farm bill
is not fiscally responsible.
WHY
does the “farm” bill spend
money to help market sheep and goats—and purchase weather radios?
Heritage
experts Diane Katz and
Daren Bakst put together a list of 20 “completely unjustified” programs
included in the “farm” bill. It includes taxpayer dollars for the
National
Sheep Industry Improvement Center, which helps with the marketing of
sheep and
goats. And yes, it has $1 million per year for weather radios.
Let’s
be honest. This isn’t a
“farm” bill. It’s a food stamps-and-whatever-else-Congress-can-throw-in
bill.
Read
this and other articles at The
Heritage Foundation
|
