Farm Bill Fights and Border Bill Resurrection
Steve Dittmer | AFF Sentinel
Colorado Springs, CO
Originally sent to subscribers 05/21/24
Thursday will be interesting in Washington.
The new for 2025 Farm Bill is scheduled for markup in the House Ag Committee and fireworks are expected.
Also on Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will attempt to resurrect the very bad border bill because most of the country is very unhappy with the horrible way this administration has handle the “border.”
We put "border" in quotes because there is no border in the literal, definitive sense of the word. Just like President Obama had his red lines in the sand that no one paid attention to, Biden has a border that no one pays attention to, except as a starting line for illegals to sprint across.
House Republicans have crafted a Farm Bill framework but Democrats on the committee will not want to go along with parts of it.
Some provisions are supported by both sides, like boosting safety net programs. But senior Democrats have drawn some red lines the bill crosses over, according to Politico. That same report actually referred to the Farm Bill with a straight face as “must-pass” legislation. We’re not sure a Farm Bill has passed on time in this century. After all, our highly efficient, business-like Congress only has five years to pass one.
Republican members have included provisions to strip out some climate change policies and provide some limits on already huge nutrition programs. Democrats are not happy about those moves and Sen. Debbie Stabenow -- in the spirit of compromise -- has said she will oppose any bill that even touches climate change or nutrition programs. But some Democrats on the House Ag Committee from threatened districts have indicated they might just hold fire on the markup vote, waiting for an out later.
Pressure on the Democrats has come from “anti-hunger” groups to House Ag Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson’s plans. His plan calls for limiting future updates to the Thrifty Food Plan, which sets terms for the SNAP food program. That plan has USDA estimate the cost of a nutritious, practical and cost-effective diet for a family of four on a limited budget. The Democrats see the Thrifty Food plan as a primary mechanism for increasing SNAP benefits in the future. The anti-hunger groups want no limits placed on the Thrifty Food Plan.
That sounds suspiciously like the no-limits philosophy from the left on taxes, spending or border crossings.
There are some nutrition experts who support Thompson’s draft because it places diet quality over diet quantity. There is some thought to restricting purchase of some less nutritious food items under the SNAP program.
What might not seem expected is a letter signed by over 500 chefs from around the country angry about some of the provisions removing climate change provisions in the draft Farm Bill. The Inflation Reduction Act, otherwise known as the Inflation Act, foisted a number of climate change provisions costing some $14 billion on a Farm Bill facing tight budget constraints. All along, the Republicans have pushed to delete the climate change items and redirect the money towards more pressing and germane ag needs. Not only do some Democrats and the chefs want climate change provisions in this Farm Bill but they want them made a permanent provision, so that “we” can reach the climate change goals by 2030.
By the way, Dan Bongino noted recently that the climate change “net zero” goal that some of the far left thinks is the proper goal, requires zero meat, zero dairy products, limited personal transportation and one 1,500 kilometer round trip airplane flight every three years.
The James Beard Foundation (wince) has joined with the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Working Group opposing climate change deletions in the Farm Bill.
Reminiscent of the administration’s “whole of government” approach to inserting climate change elements in everything we wrote about last time, the chefs have signed onto that kind of thinking.
“Restaurants and local producers…that supply them are directly connected,” the chef’s letter said. “When one of us is harmed by climate change, it harms us all, including the people we employ and the local economies we both support.”
We agree that drought, severe weather, pandemics and terrible government policies affect all of us in the food production chain in interconnected ways. But leave farmers and ranchers alone to figure out how to cope with fickle short- and long-term weather. None of us cause or control the weather but agriculture needs all its attention, fewer regulations and all the funding they have to innovate and cope, not pay in taxes and regulation compliance for things that won’t change the weather or the climate.
Speaking of restrictions and interference in production from people not doing the work, the Farm Bill draft also includes elements of the EATS Act that would counter the overreaching restrictions in California’s Proposition 12. The provisions would overturn some of the state laws hitching on to Prop 12 in regards to livestock production.
Needless to say, the EATS Act or any provisions to counter it in the Farm Bill are opposed by Wayne Pacelle, former head honcho of OCM’s old partners HSUS. Pacelle is now president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy.
Also on Thursday, even those leftist politicians tone-deaf to conservative political concerns are contemplating some last-minute fixes for their misbegotten border chaos. There have been whispers that Biden might get out the illegal immigration executive order forms he locked away in a forgotten lockbox after opening the illegal spigots. But Schumer has scheduled an attempt to resurrect the equally misbegotten “bipartisan” border bill from months ago.
That bill guaranteed at least 5,000 immigrants a day, provided more funding for processing not policing the border and did little to fix the border defense. It provided more funding from “whole-of-government” efforts from four federal agencies for the NGOs that have been aiding and abetting illegal border crossers for Biden’s whole term, according to Heritage Action. Rather than restricting the flow of illegals into sanctuary cities, the bill would just send the sanctuaries more money. Catch and release would continue, as would mass paroles.
The bill would also convert into statute some of the policies and violations of immigration law the administration has been using.
To contribute to AFF with a credit card there are two options:
To use any credit card on Square, click first link below:
To use your Paypal acct. click below: