Earl Blumenauer: “we will face a very stark choice on the farm bill this week. The hollow claims of reform are exposed by the fact that it…”

“we will face a very stark choice on the farm bill this week. The hollow claims of reform are exposed by the fact that it hardly saves any money at all and retains the complex system with special provisions to avoid what we say we want to do: concentrate on our family farms. It preserves a system where five commodities, rice, cotton, wheat, soy beans, and corn, will continue to claim most of the money and dominate our farm policy. It is perverse because it continues to enrich those experts at farming the taxpayer while continuing to squeeze out the family farmers, driving up land prices and giving the big guys a competitive advantage. That is why the overwhelming majority of farmers favor a strict cap of $250,000 a year. You can ask independent experts, not lobbyists and associate members. Ask your own farmers. Let's amend the committee bill, currently the least that can be done, with a vote for a series of amendments that will strengthen it and provide the sort of support our farmers deserve.”