If you ever needed evidence about the disaster of central planning, and the difficulty of changing course once you go down that disastrous road, consider the recent, bloated Farm Bill (which aso included pork of all kinds, and leftist favorties like food stamp expansion).
You don't like the rich? Well, a good portion of the subsidies in the Farm Bill go to the RICH, large farmers.
You like free market theory? Well, only about 1/3 of Congress does. The rest appear to be MARXISTS. The bill passed by veto proof majorities, and the President's actual vetor was overridden, although the Democratic House left 34 pages out of the bill that went to the Preisdent. That 34 pages did not make it into law with the rest, although I assume they got there, or will get there, eventually.
You don't like excess Federal spending and pork? Again, 2/3's of Congress, inclulding a whole lot of Republicans and almost all Democrats, disagree with you.
One of the amazing features of this bill is that it GUARANTEES farmers 90% of the PRESENT grain prices for FIVE YEARS. A farm lobbying organization GLOATED over that provision. Why? Because present grain prices are at a RECORD HIGH. This means that high food prices are virtually GUARANTEED BY CONGRESS for the next five years, or else the government will be shelling out a whole lot of taxpayer dollars to make up the difference to farmers--to make sure that farmers receive near-RECORD prices. When called on this, spokesmen indicated that it sounds worse than it is because it is UNLIKELY THAT GRAIN PRICES WILL GO DOWN ANYWAY, and therefore unlikely that the government will have to pay out a whole lot of money.
Uh-huh. Then WHY did we (that is, farmers) need government gurantee? Why insist on provisions tthat supposedly will never come into play, but which are SUPID if they did come into play (the STuPID part being the guarantee of RECORD prices). That is the kind of (il)logic you get into when you go down the central planning road (no to mention the road of deceit and unaccountability, as "free" Federal money seems to flow in an endless stream).
The Un.N. announced today that it expects worldwide food prices to stay high for the next several lyears (indicating, if accurate, that maybe we won't have to shell out those big Federal bucks to gurantee the farmers those record prices).
Notice what theat means. It means that this is a perfect opportunity to return to the free market in agriculture. When farmers can make money in the free market, even with the cost of energy, WHY can't we end the cycle of government control and subsidy? If you don't understand why, you have been truly brainwashed by the Big Government, central planning types. We can't return to teh free market because everyone concerned is now invested in the idea of depending on the Federal Government. In the world of central planning, you NEVER go back. The answer to the inevitable, eventual FAILURES is MORE CENTRAL PLANNNING--MORE government control and dependency.
I have said before that President Bush is a Big Government Guy. Even he could not stand this bill-hence the rare veto. Almost NO "expert" defends this hopelessly bloated bill (none that I have heard, anyway). Nevertheless, almost all of Congress voted for it.
So much for Republicans making an "issue" out of Federal spending or Big Government. This bill alone indicates that no more than 40% of Republicans are worth voting for (a generous percentage that is surely too high).
Nope. We conservatives (not just me, even if you consider me not worthy of being called a conservative) HAVE been exiled to the Wilderness. All we can do is wait for a LEADER to bring us back to the Promised Land of Ronald Reagan. That leader will NOT be John McCain--win or lose.
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