Political Quotes

“Last week's farm bill debacle in the House of Representatives highlighted a fundamental disconnect. My friends in the Republican majority felt that nutrition for poor people was not a priority because they were concerned about increasing government dependence for lower-income Americans. Yes, there are more people receiving SNAP, or what we used to call food stamp benefits, because that's how the system is supposed to work. After our Nation suffered a near collapse of the economy, and with a much larger population of over 313 million people, we would expect that, in the face of persistent unemployment and job loss, more people would be on food stamps. We want them to get this assistance. It helps those families and it helps the economy. Yet, by the same action, my friends passed the most expensive farm bill provisions in our Nation's history. Just like the direct payment program, which gave 75 percent of the payments to 10 percent of all farmers, the new price targets and crop insurance programs manipulate the market, concentrate wealth in the hands of the few, and fail to implement any basic reforms such as means testing and payment limits. The irony was not lost on many who watched the price tag go up and the benefits be concentrated in the hands of those who need it the least. The bill lacked meaningful reform. The long overdue elimination of direct payments was coupled with a lavish increase in a new entitlement, shallow loss provisions of crop insurance.…”