Residual Forces

Did I wake up in bizzaro world? This PiPress editorial is great and even supports a Bush veto! 

Minnesota produced some $10 billion worth of crops and livestock last year. The state is among the nation’s largest producers of soybeans, corn, wheat, sugar, turkeys and pigs. Agriculture of one sort or another is important to every corner of Minnesota, and everywhere in between. So, then, is federal farm policy, which is normally rewritten every five years.

The most recent farm bill was written in 2002. The new one was due last year. Now it’s overdue. Despite the extra months it took Congress to produce a new bill, it’s about to get a veto from President Bush. This is no surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention to the farm bill debate, and it should be welcome to anybody who cares about responsible use of taxpayer dollars, about defensible farm policy, and, ultimately, about farmers.

We hope Congress will accept the veto and quickly send a better bill back to the president. A better bill will have fewer trade-distorting mandates and subsidies (especially considering that our trading partners buy $100 billion worth of U.S. farm exports a year), no income support for those farmers at the top of the heap who need no income support, no budget gimmicks and fewer taxpayer-funded goody bags for parochial interests. It’s a farm bill, not a bring-home-the-bacon bill.

Read the rest here. 

Now if we could only get Sen. Coleman (R) on board with this line of thinking. Also keep in mind Minnesotans that our very own Rep. Colin Peterson (D MN7) is the Chair of the Ag Committee and the one responsible for this bill’s contents.