Bill Clinton: “Let me make one other comment on the crop insurance issue. There are deficiencies in the crop insurance program all…”

“Let me make one other comment on the crop insurance issue. There are deficiencies in the crop insurance program all right for the catastrophic losses. The main problem we've got in this instance is that this flood occurred a heck of lot further north on the Mississippi than floods normally occur. And by the time the land drains off, it'll be too late to plant soybeans. I mean, that's the main problem we've got. So unless you sort of threw the beans in the ground to create a fiction, you know, a falsehood, to claim your crop insurance, you can't cover it. That does not mean that, at least I could, in good conscience, to ever advise any farmer not to ever buy crop insurance. It does do some good, and I do think that, in effect, the preference in the law for people who have some insurance is a pretty good thing, still, but we do need to drastically reform the crop insurance program. [Representative Minge predicted long-term reductions in the cost of farm programs.]”