Prior to this month’s overwhelmingly favorable votes in Congress, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) urged the House and Senate to reject H.R. 2419, the 2008 Farm Bill, and encouraged President Bush to make good on his veto threat. “H.R. 2419 fails to provide any significant reform,” said CCAGW President Tom Schatz. “With 2008 net farm income forecast to be $92 billion (51 percent above its 10-year average) this should have been the perfect opportunity to provide real reform of farm policy. Instead, the Farm Bill simply continues the present system that doles out huge payments to wealthy farmers whether they are needed or not.” The $300 billion Farm Bill maintains $5.2 billion annually in direct payments to individuals (many of whom are no longer farming) without regard to prices or income; creates a new “permanent disaster fund” costing $3.8 billion — a disaster for taxpayers, most farmers and the environment; and finances earmarks, such as $5 million in grants to broadcasting systems inserted by Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), $3 million for Delta Health Alliance Grants inserted by Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), and $1 million for the National Sheep and Goat Industry Improvement Center inserted by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.). The House passed the Farm Bill, 312-106, on May 14, while the Senate followed suit the next day with a vote of 81-15.
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