THE BIGGEST FOOD & FARM WELFARE BILL EVER SHOULD BE PUT OUT TO PASTURE OR SENT TO THE GLUE FACTORY!

375103 518346021533960 1419283037 n 300x175 THE BIGGEST FOOD & FARM WELFARE BILL EVER SHOULD BE PUT OUT TO PASTURE OR SENT TO THE GLUE FACTORY!

RE:  The Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012 (AKA: the Farm Bill) is working its way to the House floor for a vote. The total estimated cost of the bill is almost a trillion dollars!  In 2008 a similar bill cost $604 billion-over a 50% increase in just four years. Speaker Boehner voted against farm bills in 2002 and 2008-this year’s bill is even worse.

ISSUE-in-BRIEF: In a free society, we should not be protecting and shielding one industry, when others are expected to take risk and absorb loss as a cost of doing business.  Perhaps nothing represents the “business as usual” approach to politics and policy like the Farm Bill.  Every few years, a grab-bag of welfare programs, special-interest corporate handouts, protectionist policies, agriculture subsidies, and entitlement boondoggles are thrown together into a trillion dollar spending package that Washington politicians call the “Farm Bill.”

How bad is this “Farm Bill”?  Here are just a few examples:

·        It contains a new welfare program called “Price Loss Coverage.”  This program pays farmers when prices fall below a certain threshold.  With crop prices at historic highs, this is like building a slot machine geared for a jackpot.  Once prices fall, farmers will be hitting the jackpot every year at the expense of the American taxpayer.

·         The “Revenue Loss Coverage” in the House bill and the “Shallow Loss Coverage” in the Senate bill insures against revenue losses greater than 15% and 10%, respectively. With historically high crop prices and a $16 trillion debt, if we can’t eliminate these costly, anti-free market policies now-when will we ever have the courage to do so?

·         The House bill extends something called the “Conservation Reserve Program” that pays farmers not to farm 25 million acres of land in America.  It extends a sugar program, complete with import quotas that lead to Americans paying 40% more for sugar than the rest of the world.

·         The House bill makes no changes to what Speaker Boehner has correctly referred to as a “Soviet-style” dairy program. This program’s market-distorting price controls and production limits are completely antithetical to the free market principles that conservatives cherish.

·         The bill funds the Food for Peace Program and the Market Access Program that have long been opposed by conservatives.

THIS IS A FARM BILL LIKE SOLYNDRA IS AN ENERGY COMPANY!

This “Farm Bill” is not really a farm bill at all.  Roughly eighty percent of the trillion dollars of spending is on social welfare programs, namely food stamps.  Under President Obama, food stamp spending has doubled and today, 1 out of 7 Americans receives food stamps.  Conservatives should be outraged that our country is being turned into a European-style social welfare state that is trapping millions of Americans into a cycle of government dependency.  Instead, this bill maintains the status quo, missing a chance to fix a program that is robbing our country of the opportunity to earn our success.  Surely we can do better.

In recent years, the conservative movement has united against these trillion dollar takeover bills that seek to expand the federal government’s role into nearly every sector of American life.  Whether it was opposition to Wall Street or auto industry bailouts, the cap and trade schemes of radical environmentalists, President Obama’s failed “stimulus” bill and his health care takeover, and the misguided Dodd-Frank bill -we recognize the expansion of government when we see it.

The so-called “Farm Bill” is an attack on free enterprise and personal liberty.

Photo Credit: site.gov / creative commons

Liars And Tyrants And Bureaucrats – And The MEDIA

Obama Teleprompter Liberal Media SC 300x236 Liars and Tyrants and Bureaucrats – And the MEDIA

Who’s in charge here, anyway? The Obama administration is responsible for everything, but knows nothing. America is in ruins, scandal, and no one’s to blame. Evidently, the buck permanently stopped with George W. Bush.

The ever so smug White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney, has had a tough go of it lately creatively answering questions saying he doesn’t know anything and the president had absolutely no knowledge or involvement – in anything. Apparently, ‘at no time was the Obama administration aware of what the Obama administration was doing.’ 

It’s funny, infuriating, and sad all at the same time. The most corrupt government in American history has not, is not, and will not be held accountable for their actions.

I hope I’m wrong; nothing will come from any of this.

With Americans as uninformed and disinterested as we’ve ever seen, consider the mounting information that continues to be brushed under the rug. If President Obama were a Republican, he never would have been reelected in 2012 and he’d be impeached in 2013.

But the media refuses to report the truth – unless they are practically forced to – about anything remotely negative on Obama, and four years of this has not only led to a well- insulated president, but also citizens who are not hearing many facts.

A CNN poll last week revealed 53% of Americans still approve of the job Obama is doing as president! Since it’s nearly impossible to estimate how many of these are die-hard liberals, progressives, Democrats, and college students, we should assume a majority of them have little interest or knowledge of Obama’s actual record. Gallup also has Obama’s approval right around 51%. So – what gives? His approval should be in the 30’s.

It’s been suggested that the media can tilt an election by approximately 8 points. I’d also say they can influence polls and approval ratings by making a devil seem like an angel.

America has reached a tipping point. While people are getting more frustrated, government is becoming more arrogant and evasive. Here are some stories that come to mind.

Who can forget the Obamacare monstrosity that was rushed through Congress and then crammed, forced, and stuffed down the American people’s throats? Nancy Pelosi infamously told us we’d have to pass the bill to find out what was in it, and now it’s old news. The lies have been told, the people have been deceived, and more than $1 trillion in new taxes and more than $2 trillion in new spending later, the Democrats have gotten away with their abuse of power Scott-free.

Even HHS Secretary Sebelius admitted insurance premiums will increase and approximately 24 million Americans will lose their current coverage once Obamacare kicks into gear. Because of this, some employers are already cutting full-time workers hours so they won’t be forced to pay for as many employees’ insurance plans.

Blue Cross Blue Shield, for one, has proposed a 25% rate increase for many of their plans.

Insurance rates have gone up, people have lost health care coverage, employers have been forced to drop certain plans, and countless medical costs have gone up because of the upcoming changes in the law – forced upon the majority of Americans.

A few years ago, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer was begging our own government for help protecting the U.S./Mexico border. Citizens were having property damaged or stolen, deaths were reported, and Mexican gun cartel activity was traced nearly 100 miles into Arizona. What happened? The Obama administration sued the state of Arizona for enforcing their immigration laws.

Next, when it came to the deaths of American and Mexican citizens, the reckless Fast and Furious gun-running operation was forgotten shortly after Obama protected Erik Holder and the (In)Justice Department by exercising his executive privilege – after it was confirmed Holder lied and was held in contempt of Congress.  

One scandal I thought would stick was Benghazi. The evasive runaround, the administration’s laughable talking points, and the complicit media silence kept people uninformed. The scandal didn’t stick, but it does stink. The spin and media puppet show shielded Obama and leading up to the 2012 Presidential Election, the Obama administration received extremely little scrutiny for the Benghazi incident and how it was mishandled back in D.C.

Remember the stimulus debacle? We’re talking about massive spending of taxpayer money on green energy scams; I mean “investments.” Jobs were promised and immediate economic growth was predicted and yet, one after the other, these companies failed miserably.

Solar Trust for America, declared bankruptcy after receiving $2.1 billion in loan guarantees from the Department of Energy.  First Solar blew through $1.46 billion, Solyndra wasted $535 million, Fisker Automotive received $529 million, Evergreen Solar spent $527 million, and the list goes on.

Now, we see the current, growing AP scandal involving information leaks as well as the DOJ seizing records of several Fox News employees while they targeted reporter James Rosen.

It’s also been confirmed the IRS has targeted the Tea Party, Christians, and many conservative groups including Republican business executives that simply donated to the Romney campaign.

Naturally, no one in the Obama administration knows anything.

To end with a ‘you just can’t make this stuff up’ storyline twist, the crony slated to take over Obamacare for the IRS, Lois Lerner, will apparently take the 5th in the ongoing investigation of IRS corruption.

I also faintly recall ongoing investigations regarding voter fraud in the 2008 and 2012 elections.

Geez, I hope the media or Obama justice Department find some answers they’re not seeking.

It’s all “ongoing.” Most of us are not holding our breath.

Obama’s In Texas To Talk Jobs? He Should Try Listening

Steve Stockman official portrait Obama’s in Texas to talk jobs? He should try listening

 

In February, I invited Barack Obama to come to Texas to learn to create jobs.

Four months later, and under intense pressure to make it look like he cares about the unemployed, he’s coming to Austin for “an event on the economy.”

Instead of talking, he should come and listen.

He inherited an unemployment rate of 7.3 percent.  After four years and a Congress that gave him everything he demanded in a $1.2 trillion “stimulus” bill, the only thing that grew was human suffering.

Under Obama, the percentage of the adult population with a job or looking for one has dropped to record levels.  The “civilian labor force participation rate” is at an abysmally low 63.3 percent, the lowest since 1979 and Jimmy Carter.

Additionally, 9.5 million working-age Americans have given up on finding a job under Obama. Combined, they would make the nation’s 11th largest state.

Job creation is nearly dead under Obama and nowhere near what we need to recover.  Americans are giving up looking for work under Obama in numbers unseen since Carter.  Black and Hispanic unemployment have grown to epidemic levels under this president.

The widespread suffering makes Obama’s decision to disband his Jobs Council earlier this year even more insulting.  Obama wants us to accept unemployment and poverty as the new normal.  Under Obama, our only reliable export is failure.

People are suffering because of Obama sinking deeper into his personal agenda of high taxes and attacks on job creators rather than creating a rising tide of prosperity.

Obama’s stubborn policy of raising taxes on job creators and issuing wasteful regulations means the private sector isn’t growing fast enough to restore our economy.  We can’t afford four more years of Obama’s failed liberalism.  He needs to turn off his teleprompter that’s already pre-programmed with the same old failed agenda of tax hikes and more giveaways to his political donors.

If Obama wants to learn how to create jobs, he should stop talking and instead listen to Texans.

Texas also inherited an economy from George W. Bush. Unlike Obama’s economy, ours is booming.  Spending cuts, small government, and light regulations are the fuel that has the Texas economy roaring.

Texas did it by cutting taxes, while Obama grounded America’s economy to a halt by raising taxes.

Texas fueled jobs by expanding our oil and gas industry, while Obama has siphoned off jobs by slashing oil and gas production on federal lands and aggressively attacking private development with regulations.

Liberals love to blame slower growth in government spending for low job numbers, but Texas cut spending by $11 billion and job growth exploded.  Government spending is a barrier to prosperity.

While Obama is burying the United States in massive deficits, Texas is sitting atop an $8 billion budget surplus.  Not only is a Texas not running a deficit; unlike Obama’s government, we can pay off our debts.

Texas has a healthy, booming economy because we saw what Obama was doing and did the opposite.  While Obama is giving up on job creation, Texas is busy trying to fill jobs.

If Obama really cares about the millions suffering under his economy, he’ll drop the canned speech filled with the same failed liberalism.  Obama needs to adopt the Texas model of low taxes, smart regulations, and a booming oil and gas industry.

“Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression, come from what source it may.”– General Sam Houston, First President of the Republic of Texas

 

 

Donny Ferguson

Senior Communications Adviser

U.S. Representative Steve Stockman (TX-36)

202-225-1555

Five Most Wanted Economic Villains

Obama Geithner Credit Downgrade Deal SC Five Most Wanted Economic Villains

Everyone knows that the American financial system has been through a rough few years. Record public deficits, high unemployment, stagnant economic growth, yada, yada, yada. No surprise there. Americans can’t decide exactly who is to blame: Republicans or Democrats? Let’s just split the difference; we’ve decided and have a Republican House and Democratic Senate and Presidency. Maybe when government is closely divided, they’ll end up doing less damage that way. Or maybe not. It seems like the closely divided Congress has done little to ease our economic woes. Both parties bear some of the blame. Who, though, are the individuals who bear the most guilt for what has transpired? Who are the five most wanted economic villains in the modern day USA?

The fifth most guilty individual is Nancy Pelosi, the former majority leader of the House and current minority leader. Why Ms. Pelosi? After all, Congressional scholar Norman Ornstein stated that the House presided over by Pelosi was “on a path to become one of the most productive since the Great Society.” Isn’t that a good thing? Halt. The word “productive” when applied to the free enterprise system and about everything else besides government equals a good thing. When the word is applied to government, it is often a bad thing. The Great Society, as you know, was a massive increase in the size of the federal government. Nancy Pelosi’s “productivity” threatens to have much of the same result: expansion, expansion, expansion. She helped expand the federal government by passing a massive and ineffective stimulus bill, boosted the minimum wage (I thought we wanted less unemployment), and passed Obamacare, an unpopular program that threatens to wreak financial havoc on an already-troubled country. Such are some of Pelosi’s worst deeds.

Hate to hit on a guy who’s out of office, but he deserves it. Mr. Timothy Geithner stood behind some of the worst shenanigans in modern American economic history. Geithner was both head of the New York Federal Reserve and then the Secretary of the Treasury during Obama’s first term. In both positions, he strongly advocated for more financial assistance for big banks, from the budget in the form of TARP and the Federal Reserve in the form of cheap loans. These are probably his worst acts. Other than that, he failed to arrest the economic decline of the country during his time as Treasury Secretary.

Paul Krugman comes next. Mr. Krugman is a Nobel Laureate, professor, and New York Times columnist. His personal motto seems to be “never enough government.” No matter how many billions of dollars in stimulus Barack Obama and the Congress applied to the economy, it was never enough for Dr. Krugman. Whatever happens, he is sure to reply that the problem is insufficient government. No matter that the consensus seems to have emerged around free market, neoclassical economics instead of Dr. Krugman’s Keynesianism. Despite the unrivaled success of the free market, expect him to continue espousing his noxious form of economic interventionism to his death bed.

Now for the man you knew would have to be on the list. President Barack Obama shares the same liberal philosophy as Dr. Krugman, professions of being a moderate aside. He promised hope and has only brought disillusionment to a generation in desperate need of hope. Exploding food stamp use, massive government spending, and even an increased racial divide in terms of wealth have occurred under Obama . According to a recent article in the New York Times, Blacks and Hispanics have suffered far more than whites during his Presidency in economic terms. Of course, there is also Obamacare, which threatens to complete the morphing of the U.S. from one of the best places for medical care on the planet to a laughingstock in the international community.

At the top of the list of economic bunglers comes Ben Bernanke. Dr. Bernanke has failed to fix the economy despite the unprecedented amounts of money he has poured into the economy through his various QE programs. For those of you behind on the lingo, QE programs essentially increase the money supply by using the various tools of the Federal Reserve to do so. If QE 1, QE 2, QE3, and QE4 have failed to work, don’t hold your breath expecting it to work in the future. The unemployment rate is still bad despite Bernanke’s QEs and Obama’s stimulus plans. Economic growth is anemic. One bright spot has been the bubble Bernanke has helped create in the US stock market. But this bubble will come to an end; and when it does, it won’t be pretty.

Thankfully, Americans aren’t stupid like the central planners like to think, and they will wake up at some point to the fruitless attempts Bernanke, Obama, and company have made to stimulate the economy. The only question is: will they do it soon enough, or will America have to reach a place so ugly that we won’t recognize the America of our youth? Let us hope and pray that someone out there will have the gumption to take on the economic failures of the establishment before it is too late.

 

F. Peter Brown is Editor at the Sound Money Institute and Associate Editor at the Western Center for Journalism. He tweets  @FPBLibertarian.

 

1984 + 29 : The Obama Revolution

Barack Obama 10 SC 1984 + 29 : The Obama Revolution

Imagine if, during the campaign of 2008, someone had written the following: “If Barack Obama is elected president, then each year from now on the federal budget will be a trillion dollars in the red. He will pile up in two terms more debt than all previous presidents combined. Interest rates will stay at near zero; 7.6 percent unemployment will be proof of progress in creating jobs. Record use of food stamps, unemployment, and disability insurance will be hallmarks of recovery. The government will take over health care, and the costs will skyrocket. During Obama’s second term, ammunition will vanish from America’s store shelves in panic buying. Gay marriage will become uncontroversial. Women will be eligible for infantry combat. The only question about amnesty for illegal aliens will be when, not if, it is enacted. States will begin legalizing marijuana.” Obviously, such a conspiracist would have been dismissed as an unhinged nut.

You may object that Obama himself has hardly been responsible for all these radical transformations. True, but he helped to create, in brilliant fashion, a “hope and change,” quasi-revolutionary climate — the political cover, if you will, for the media, the universities, federal judges, state legislatures, and Congress to reinvent American popular culture and tradition in a manner rarely if ever seen in the past.

How, then, did the Obama team do that?

LANGUAGE

First were the necessary changes in language. In the Obama age, as in Orwell’s 1984, the natural meanings of words had to change. See the third book of Thucydides’ history for the details.

Running up serial trillion-dollar deficits was not profligacy, but rather making “investments” for “the children.” Irresponsible borrowing became “stimulus.” Indeed, “trillion” — not a frequently used part of most people’s vocabulary before 2009 — suddenly replaced “billion” as a familiar fiscal numerical adjective. A takeover of health care that would spike premiums and ration services, devices, and procedures was aptly named the “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.”

Read More at National Review . By Victor Davis Hanson.