William C. Baker: “Here is the phaseout of the farm programs. Follow it along, folks. This is what the kinder and gentler new Congress is…”

“Here is the phaseout of the farm programs. Follow it along, folks. This is what the kinder and gentler new Congress is going to do to get your hand out of the taxpayers. They have succeeded partly. They got their hand out of the taxpayers, and they put them into the consumer big-time. The Gunderson provision makes a bad policy worse. The Heritage Foundation says fluid milk prices to consumers are likely to increase by roughly 50 cents per gallon. The USDA estimates the increase to consumers at between 17 cents and 24 cents per gallon. Americans for Tax Reform supports the Solomon amendment, designates it a key vote for this year. Unlike Gunderson, the Solomon amendment will not increase dairy prices. It immediately reduces the current support price by 20 cents, and then 10 cents a year, a kinder and gentler freedom to farm. Unlike Gunderson, the Solomon amendment will not create new bureaucratic pooling mechanisms. Unlike Gunderson, the Solomon amendment will not mandate expensive milk fortification. The CBO estimates private sector mandates at $800 million to $1.1 billion.”