Tom Harkin: “How about 3. Madam President, I am very proud of our bill. We worked very hard to craft a bill. But, you know, any bill…”

“How about 3. Madam President, I am very proud of our bill. We worked very hard to craft a bill. But, you know, any bill needs to be improved when it comes to the floor. I think this is one item where we need to fix it. The bill that came out of committee, we did not do our job in this respect. I wish to echo what the Senator from Illinois said. I think of it this way. If you are a bona fide farmer, more than two-thirds of your income, it could be 70 percent of your income comes from farming, you have no limits. There are no limits. You could have an adjusted gross income of $10 million and you will still get Government benefits. There are zero limits. Now, again, if your income from farming is less than that, less than two-thirds, then you have an income limit of $1 million, then it goes down to $750,000 in 2010. The Senator from Minnesota is on the right track. There is absolutely no reason why someone whose bottom-line adjusted gross income, bottom line after they have taken all their depreciation, all their expenses and everything else, bottom line of $750,000, they do not need free Government money. But I can understand why they are fighting this amendment. Who wants to give up free money? This is free money. Well, if you are going to give free money, then how about giving it to people who deserve it? That is what the Klobuchar amendment does.”