Bush Proposes Cutting Dairy Programs

[Judi Lynn]

Bush Proposes Cutting Dairy Programs
By FREDERIC J. FROMMER, Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, February 7, 2006
(02-07) 00:32 PST WASHINGTON (AP) --

President Bush's budget proposal includes a new tax on dairy farmers along with reductions to two dairy price support programs.

The budget calls for a 3-cent tax per hundredweight of milk, which translates into about $720 a year for an average-sized dairy farm.

It calls for changes in the way the Department of Agriculture sets dairy support prices, aimed at minimizing payments to farmers. And it also proposes a 5 percent cut to all crop payments, including the Milk Income Loss Contract program, known as MILC.

The proposed changes unveiled Monday would have to be approved by Congress, which is far from a certainty. They would take effect for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.
(snip/...)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/02/07/financial/f003242S16.DTL

[wakeme2008]

1. IMHO this is all about blaming Congress for the Red Ink

He knows this is DOA in Congress, like a lot of his other cuts. When these are not made, he will try to blame Dems and Congress for spending too much. :grr:

[rodeodance]

2. well, if he wants to drive out more small dairy farmers. this is a good

plan.

[NashVegas]

5. Not Necessarily

Unless they manage to lobby themselves a loophole, this could help smaller farmers - or at least hurt them far less - than the factory farms who get the bulk of subsidies.

[Sequoia]

24. Like hell it is! Are you being sarcastic?

We have a local dairy in Northern Cal...Clover-Stornetta who makes quality dairy products and here and there are small cow farms from whom the milk comes from and not a factory farm where the cows are miserable, packed in and standing in mud instead of a nice green pasture.

[acmavm]

3. These nimrod criminal bastards have to be sitting around all night

thinking up new ways to drum up money to feed their habits. They're addicted to spending on lost causes, criminal enterprises, and giving money to the rich. They're running out now so they have to try to find new sources.

[0007]

9. Like taxing the shit out of items like toilet paper, condoms, and tooth

paste

[phaseolus]

4. Why pick on dairy farms? Why not sugar?

Many good jobs in some industries (like candymaking) are fleeing the country because sugar costs so damned much. Eliminating those supports would keep those jobs in the U.S., and maybe soft drink producers wouldn't use HFCS so much anymore which makes you fatter than sugar does...

Is it because sugar cane growers are in red states, and Wisconsin and California are blue states?

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. From the article

The dairy cuts are part of an agriculture budget aimed at reducing spending on commodity programs by $1 billion. The budget also proposes that sugar producers pay a 1.2 percent tax, but an identical proposal was scrapped by Congress last year.

[Jose Diablo]

11. Sugar is an interesting example

When I think of sugar, I think about some capitalist from England or Spain coming to the 'new' world. Burning all the vegetation on an island, say the Cayman Island, thus killing everything including the indigenous people. Then having some buddies come in from Africa bringing slaves to grow sugar cane. Taking the sugar to England to satisfy a sweet tooth and profit from a charter granted by a King giving the sugar importer exclusive 'rights' to supply that market with sugar.

I don't see how much has changed for these capitalists. Probably the same families, except now they are called an 'industry'.

Edit: Come on everybody, let's link arms and sing America like we are at an Amway convention.

[CountAllVotes]

17. yeah or why not cancer causing JUNK FOODS?

oops can't do that, Monsanto might not like! :grr:

:kick:

[area51]

6. "... Bush's budget proposal includes a new tax... "

Republinazis = more taxes, along with an economic recession or Depression.

[bleedingheart]

8. Oh my the Heartland Farmers ...what will they do...their man Bush

is proposing taxes upon them....gasp!

Here in PA (a big dairy state) the farmers are predominately republican...wonder how this will sit with them.

[mac56]

10. You know the answer.

In unison and three-part harmony:

"9/11......CHANGED.......EV-ERY-THINNNNNNGGGGG!!!"

[skooooo]

12. Farmers vote Republican almost always

Hope they're happy.

[Matariki]

21. i'm not so sure about that

i thought it was the opposite. do you have any links to back that statement up? (you could be right, i don't know. i always thought that farmers were predominantly democrats. maybe depends which state?)

[no_hypocrisy]

13. "Guns, not milk . . . " n/t

[LynnTheDem]

14. Take milk from American babies! WAR is more important!

RAH RAH RAH! Ain't America grand!

[msongs]

15. dairy subsidies are pure welfare for farmers, get rid of them.

let the people who want dairy products pay for them. the human body has no need for cow milk. same goes for sugar, a product devoid of nutritional value.

Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm

[Matariki]

20. sorry, you don't know what you're talking about.

land taxes for farms are absurdly high - they need to be offset in SOME way.

[robcon]

16. I think it is disgraceful that we try to keep milk prices high.

The milk price supports should be eliminated.

[Matariki]

18. I hate this fucker

but halliburtan, et al get their stinking tax breaks. like farmers can afford this.

My cousin has almost lost the farm that's been in family for GENERATIONS due to high taxes. He's ready to give up. He wants lease the land for natural gas wells, which will probably destroy the land.

[Javaman]

19. wow, who'd a thunk it, moron* and PETA agree on the same thing...

it was reported on here yesterday that PETA is trying to an anti-milk campaign.

go figure.

[flvegan]

25. For different reasons, though.

Unfair comparison. It's like me saying that you probably want to make more money each year, but then so does Bush.

Go figure.

[Javaman]

26. It was an Ironic comparison...PETA and moron* are worlds apart. nt

[Megahurtz]

22. Cut This, Cut That.

Well how about cutting the STUPID WAR???:grr:

[triguy46]

23. DOA. n/t