Tom Toles for January 14, 2013

FEEEEEED MEEEEEEEE!

Careful where you cut. It grows right back.

Seymour’s been feeding it in Congress for a long time,a nd it’s name is Monsanto.

The Tea Party representatives from farm states will elinimate all that wasteful spending on farm subsidies. Won’t they?

And leave the small organic farmers alone. Stop the raids.

Another rush limpbone made up statistic? Maybe billow reily this time? Or, just another r/w talking point?

Reagan didn’t cut subsidies for food stamps

One thing to remember is that a lot of farmers took a huge hit from last year’s drought. How that will play into this, I honestly don’t know, but it’s something we should keep in mind

yeah without subs how is nancy going to keep her grape farm for her wine

Only a small portion of “farm subsidies” go to farmers, most go to planters (those corporate “factory farms” of at least a section of land under cultivation – in the old days, at least 20 slaves).

Locally we have a “greenbelt” subsidy. When someone buys a large vacant lot, they put a couple of cows on the land and claim a deduction on their property taxes.

The guy who does the TV show “Good Eats,” Alton Brown, did a really good show about corn.He used diagrams to show why popcorn pops and the difference between the different types of corn.

Mr. Ima is an excellent representative of the Party of Money. Just like the GOP, there are plenty of places to cut the budget (corporate tax subsidies, carried interest rules, oil tax breaks, negotiating drug prices under Medicare), but he will not accept anything that doesn’t actively hurt the poor.

great idea put all land in fence to fence cultivate in dryest year ever can you say DUST BOWL

Oh, dear, I’m going to defend Ima here. Food stamps ARE a major part of the Ag budget (at least 60%) and should go to Health and Human Services. And the bit of the Ag budget (25%) that goes to forests should be moved out to Forestry. If all the comes under the Ag budget went to the proper department, you would be shocked at how little goes to farmers, and what is left, maybe 3% of that is left over to divide among the farmers. I wish I knew the exact numbers, you might want to contact Orian Samuelson or Max Armstrong of RFD TV. They are more informed on this issue than I am.

Also, FYI, subsidies for farmers have been drastically cut over the years but I haven’t seen any cuts to the oil industry.

Oh, and milk subsidies have been cut and in some places milk is $6/gallon. Do we keep our farmers in business or do we import milk from Mexico or China?

What you have to remember about farm subsidies is that they don’t go to the small farmer anymore. they are designed for the corporate farms that put the small farms out of buisness. These need to be stopped or geared to the farmers that make less than $100,000.00 a year.

Once again Ima spouts off without knowing or pointing out the actual facts. Ima says its the liberals who wont cut food stamps? Guess what? The liberals did and then your boy GW made it easier, but hey dont let the facts get in your way, you never do:

Nancy Marshall-Genzer: There’s been an explosive expansion of the food stamp program. To understand why, you have to go back to the ‘90s and President Clinton’s welfare reform, which trimmed welfare rolls. To help those cut off, Congress and President Bush made it easier to qualify for food stamps.

Farmers walk with a big stick At least the corporate ones do.

I hve it from a good source (one of your fellow Kentuckians) that tobacco does not cause illness such as cancer or emphesima.

He did not smoke but raise tobacco as a profitable crop. Wish I could breathe.

If you make stupid comments like Ima then you should expect the same. 90% of what Ima says is made up or an outright lie but we are stupid for calling him out on it right? I have no doubt you are a FoxNews watcher, you listen and read but dont reason or question. Baaahhhhhh…..

“On a brighter note those farm subsidies might help keep food cheaper for us to afford and help shelter farms from the ravages of uncertain weather etc..”-Beware the allure of CHEAP FOOD. Saving money by taking shortcuts is usually more expensive in the long term. Our food is so cheap now that we throw up to half of it away, and have made starchy, fatty, sugary, artificial foods our staples. Better to pay more for our food, and recognize it’s inherent value to nourish and sustain us in a healthy lifestyle, than to cheapen it, and by extension, ourselves.

I used to work with a guy who grew up in Kansas, a die-hard conservative Republican who voted for W Bush twice. While he hasn’t lived in Kansas for 20+ years, he still owns 35 acres there that are classified as a “farm”, but does not actually grow anything. He would often brag that he made money every year by selling his “water rights” to neighboring farmers.*I realize that this money may not come out of the DoAg budget. But he is still ripping off somone (perhaps the Kansas taxpayers), and can do so without producing anything, just because he owns land.*I wonder how many Republicans want to clean up stuff like this in the Red States? Not just say they do, but actually do it.

Because trolls feed off of negative attention. Are you new to the Internet?

Tigger said, “Kansas is a Blue State”.*Just because you found an article published on a website in 2006 (your link) doesn’t make it a fact.*Today, the Kansas Governor, both US Senators and all 4 members of the US House are Republicans.*Care to debate this further?

Was in Kroger yesterday. As we were buying produce, one staff member was going through the pre-packaged “salads” looking for expiration dates and filling a whole cart with “expired” food. I realize stores have to predict what customers will buy, but we do waste so much because it’s relatively cheap. And , Tigger, since the guy in Kansas doesn’t actually “farm”, he’s not a “middle-class farmer”.

A few facts for the intellectually lazy:We spend $15 billion on agriculture subsidies annually. 75% of subsidies go to 10% of “farmers” (mostly big operations, not family farms). 2/3’s of farmers receive no subsidies at all.Commercial farmers, who receive the majority of subsidies, report an average net income of $170,000.Producers of just five crops — wheat, cotton, corn, soybeans and rice — receive nearly all farm subsidies. All other farmers — including growers of fruits, vegetables, livestock and poultry — receive nearly nothing.This is a test of whether conservatives are willing to walk the walk on cutting the deficit. Of course, most of the recipients of subsidies are reliable backers of the GOP, so I’m not expecting anything other than hypocrisy.

When one looks at subsidies to farmers, one discovers how the middle-class benefits from government programs without realizing it.Can you imagine what the reaction of many of the Tea Party members would be if milk jumped to $8 a gallon if support to dairy farmers was cut?

You and some others are talking about the Dept. of Agriculture as if it’s the same thing as “farm subsidies”. SNAP is funded through the Dept. of Ag. but is not a “farm subsidy” although it may certainly help the farmers whose food is ultimately bought with the money. The cartoon is about “farm subsidies”.

The “Farm Bill” covers more than either subsidies or SNAP. Some important parts of it have more to do with regulation than large amounts of spending.

Farm state senators more the problem.