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With 2012 very nearly over, it's deeply unfortunate that there's still a lengthy list of bills that need to be approved before the calendar turns over. The tax and spending measures related to ongoing fiscal talks are getting the bulk of the attention, but some important policies, including the Violence Against Women Act, are also awaiting action.
And then there's the pending farm bill, which, like everything else, has stalled in the face of Republican opposition. Assuming the GOP refuses to act, there will be real consequences for millions of American consumers, and it's likely much of the public doesn't realize what's coming.
Forget the fiscal crisis and the automatic budget cuts. Come Jan. 1, there is a threat that milk prices could rise to $6 to $8 a gallon if Congress does not pass a new farm bill that amends farm policy dating back to the Truman presidency.
Lost in the political standoff between the Obama administration and Congressional Republicans over the budget is a virtually forgotten impasse over a farm bill that covers billions of dollars in agriculture programs. Without last-minute Congressional action, the government would have to follow an antiquated 1949 farm law that would force Washington to buy milk at wildly inflated prices, creating higher prices in the dairy case. Milk now costs an average of $3.65 a gallon.
Higher prices would be based on what dairy farm production costs were in 1949, when milk production was almost all done by hand. Because of adjustments for inflation and other technical formulas, the government would be forced by law to buy milk at roughly twice the current market prices to maintain a stable milk market.
The market, however, wouldn't be stable at all.
The most likely scenario would be farmers moving to sell dairy products to the government at the inflated prices, which in turn would limit consumer supply and cause huge price spikes on the commercial market. It's also likely companies that use dairy products would look to imported milk from overseas.
So, what's the problem? The Senate version of the farm bill passed with relative ease over the summer, but House Republicans haven't even brought a competing proposal to the floor for a vote. GOP leaders haven't made specific demands, but the proposal Republicans supported in committee included sharp spending cuts to measures such as nutrition assistance programs, in the hopes of making millions of low-income Americans ineligible for food stamps.
House Democrats hope to force the issue with a discharge petition, but do not yet have enough GOP support to push the farm bill to the floor, and time is obviously running out.
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Liberal Blogger Forgets How To Use Publishing Software?
Go back to Whacko World, where having your head up your ass doesn't look out of the ordinary, moron.
Liberal Blogger Forgets How To Use Publishing Software?
More like, liberal blogger made to look foolish by unreliable publishing software that occasionally refuses to do what it's told to do.
What are you talking about? That NEVER happens!
Can we all please remember to vote in 2014? This nonsense is endlessly embarrassing for our nation.
Yes we need to vote them out in 2014, and then redraw the House districts so that they can't continue to obstruct the best interests of the people. I'm not saying tilt them blue - just make them fair.
Yes. we're still feeling the consequences of the 2010 electoral disaster that saw a high water mark of the crazy in the Halls of Congress, and in State Houses across our beloved nation!
The salient question leading into the 2014 mid terms is just who do those pesky House Republicans represent anyway now that they are nicely secured in their gerrymandered districts?
Who is the Republican Brand pimping for? Surely not us plain, common-sensical folk living in the Middle Class bandwidth!
Elections have consequences, and as long as the Republican Brand is not being punished at the polls, it will continue to wreck havoc upon those it deems lesser in value to its overall scheme of profit!
The Republican Brand does not have political leaders so much as it has safe harbor for political profiteers! Wave the Bloddy Shirt oh once more my wretched Republican friends! -Kevo
KevofromBenenland,
The Republicans are trying to destroy our economy. We must all remember 2014 is the year to end that! What a terrible mess they have made of our governing body, our law making body, our country!
They will be remembered as the party that kept us down. Their rich donors, like the Koch brothers, thought they had a shoe in. Wrong, but we still must end the rule of the House T-Party obstructionists. Until then, they will keep hurting us every way possible. They are treacherous. They will stop at nothing.
Yeah, unfortunately the fact all the disappointed progressives didn't show up in 2010 means this continues to 2020, and could even continue beyond 2020 unless the disappointed progressives show up in large numbers in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020, bcause REAPPORTIONMENT only happens every ten years. You could vote them all out in 2014 and still not change things.
Everyone reading this blog and complaining about the crazy wingnut Republicans, who didn't vote in 2010, has YOURSELF TO BLAME for the situation.
Please have a tea party rep on the show to explain how government does no good and that a buck for a glass of milk is true liberty.
Lazlo, Yes, and let them explain how they believe in welfare to the wealthy but don't want food stamps to be given to the hungry children.
They disgust me so much. Words fail me.
I understand all this, but why, exactly, are we subsidizing this industry like this? Why not, say, fruits and vegetables, etc.? Or just increase assistance directly to the poor and let the market work on prices?
They are subsidized for the same reason we subsidize big oil and agriculture, to get them richer. It has nothing to do with anything else.
Both sides do it, Republicans and Democrats are at fault... You folks do realize that will be the media narrative, right?
And farmers will usually vote Republican.
Check the election results. Farmers tend Democrat because of the food stamp program and subsidies.
I could be wrong.
Oh look! Somebody noticed that there's other s#!t going on in the world! This is only the tip of the "1949 Agriculture Policies" iceberg. At least previous Congresses have had the sense to kick this can down the road with an extension of current legislation. The "Do-Less-Than-Nothing" Congress can't tell its a$$ from its elbow. You like $8 milk, you're gonna LOVE $5 bread!
Yes - we appear to have moved from the "Do-Nothing" Congress to the "Do Harm" Congress.
It's what happens when committed morons come out and vote while intelligent progressives sit home all "disappointed" that they didn't get their ponies yet.
The GNOP Party
They are too dumb to govern so they are content to just break things.
Republican m.o. - Punish anyone that doesn't vote for you, throw money at those that do. Yep, real patriots those GOP'ers.
Also, any government that does not us common sense over a no longer meaningful 64 year old "law" is either unpatriotic or just plain stupid. Whether the bill is passed in time or not, simply "extend" the current rules on milk purchases until it does get passed. We seem to have no problem with short term extensions in other areas, yet here this is a cast in stone law that we will be forced to enforce. Come on....really?
Ridiculous, simply ridiculous. If our government follows this "antiquated" law to the letter - while selectively enforcing or not enforcing at all other laws "on the books" - then they are just plain stupid. I said this last Friday when this came up - if the agricultural bill is not approved in time, then the government should continue to puchase any milk at the going rate they have been using today, yesterday and last month. Our government has essentially operated for a while without any official budget(s) so why can't they also just do the status quo until the ag bill is passed a few months down the road. This is simply idiotic and laughable. Chanaka, you mention that this is embarrassing for our nation. Well, if they actually force themselves to spike the prices, that too is embarrassing.
I suppose this will affect the price of ice cream, too. : (
First the Twinke, then milk. Damn you Mayans.
Maybe the American consumer will find out the real cost of food in a world where floods and droughts are taking a toll on food supplies world wide. If prices for food go up, I hope some of the farmers will get the increase to help cover the cost of feed. Most people in this country have no idea how much it costs to raise the food we eat. In many cases the only way we can buy food at its current price is to buy much of it from foreign countries where labor is dirt cheap or from farms here in the U.S. that are heavily subsidized by the taxpayers. Take away the tax subsidies and make the consummer pay the real cost of producing the food, and many people will starve.
No thanks. I will opt for food socialism. Ideaology has yet to fill the stomachs of my family...
The farms that are heavily subsidized here in the US aren't the family farms. There is a big food industry at work here and the family dairy farms in my state are becoming a thing of the past because of that industry. I miss being able to get real fresh milk anymore.
Interesting that the text of Benen's article indicates the REAL reason(s) behind the TP roadblock in the House: "GOP leaders haven't made specific demands, but the proposal Republicans supported in committee included sharp spending cuts to measures such as nutrition assistance programs, in the hopes of making millions of low-income Americans ineligible for food stamps." And, in our commentaries today, we're missing the very real effects of this intransigence on our fellow Americans. It's almost as if the TP bloc(k) has taken up its call to reduce the number of Americans on assistance by reducing the actual number of Americans who might be on assistance. Is this some sort of social program aimed at only the impoverished? Is this a move that will benefit only the uber-wealthy at the expense of the middle class and the lower class? Is this the harbinger of more such decisions to come? We are seeing the future in our current brand of hostage politics at its bitter worst.
Nothing new or particularly shocking. Just run of the mill obstructionism sprinkled with a little Obama-hate. Business as usual in the land of the nine percent approval rating...
I don't like the suggestion (though I agree with it) that companies will simply look to foreign milk if the local price spikes. How have we never negated that old law? It's only been temporary fixes since 1964? Seriously?
Maybe instead of foreign cow milk we should encourage people to only drink human milk. It's better designed for us, anyway. It could also be an explosive growth industry (get it?)
The price of milk is just a small part of how the farm bill influences food prices and the American diet. Failing to pass a farm bill will have far reaching consequences to farmers and consumers alike. I would be very interested in Senator Tom Harkin's views on this year's farm bill.
Just like the fiscal cliff, I cannot believe that they will not have a temporary fix for a few months until the bill if finally passed. It is silly to think that the federal government will actually let milk prices spike because of an outdated law. Why they did not fix this years ago is amazing. But then again, in DC is really is not a surprise.
Milk will be too expensive for the poor to buy for their children; no food stamps for the little ones, either.
Love those Republicans.
Feed the rich, let the poor starve.How dare these extremists call themselves Christians. How dare they do this to their own country!
India,
You can rightfully blame the Republicans for holding up the Ag bill, but IF the federal government actually follows this silly rule from 1949 and actually cause the price to skyrocket, then you can blame all the folks in Congress for being stupid to let it happen. Simply extend the current rules/prices until the bill is passed. This is what will likely happen with the fiscal cliff and temporary extensions have happened all the time in various areas of the government. Why this is such a hard thing to do in this case is simply incredible. The Republicans have rightfully been accused during the 2012 campaign of using scare tactics and to me this post is also nothing more than a scare tactic. I seriously doubt the current administration and Congress will let the milk prices spike, whether or not the new bill is passed.
You seem to think the government can just ignore the law, and will not be sued by the farmers that it should have by law been paying twice as much for milk, really? maybe you do not understand what "law" means.......
JGW,
I do understand what law means. Maybe you do not understand what enforcement means. There are many laws that are not enforced uniformly if at all. Look at the federal marijuana laws that are now not going to be enforced as robustly in the few states that passed pot legalization or dare I mention the immigration laws on the federal books that are routinely ignored. In reality they could just continue with the current pricing (as I stated above) until this bill gets passed. It is done all the time in many different areas of the government. The fiscal cliff will probably be done that way with a temporary extension of the current tax laws. It is just silly to think that at the stroke of midnight on Jan 1 the federal government will be forced to spike milk prices because of a law written 64 years ago (and apparently etched in stone that it must, must be obeyed).
Skip,
I am personally in favour of going over the cliff. I believe congress CAN fix all of this, and enforce the existing laws.
I have no faith, however, that they will become grown ups on January 1st. They've given me no reason to trust them to do what is right for this country. They've given me no reason to believe that they will suddenly care about the poor or the working poor.
Having said that, I also believe that going over the cliff is the best possible answer to the Republicans and their little tin lobbyist god, Grover Norquist.
I too am for the fiscal cliff....with not retroactive fixes. We have to take our medicine now before it is even worse a decade from now. And I really don't care who or what party this "hurts". THAT is the problem with DC now. Every bill and event is gauged by the parties on how it will make them look and/or how it will hurt the oppostion party politically. EVERYTHING in Washington is political. It is a perpetual election cycle nowadays. It really doesn't matter if a certain piece of legislation is good for the country. It's how it's good for the party and their electoral base(s). Gross, just gross.
Oh, and I do disagree with you on enforcement of ALL laws. That will never happen.
I said They CAN; I didn't say they would; we don't disagree on that. Trust me, my IQ is in the three digit range, and I stopped believing in the tooth fairy when I was four.
I see congress right now as Public Enemy #1. I am as angry as I have ever been at Washington and I have been a political junkie for a lot of Washington watching years.
Frankly, I am not easy to swallow sulphur and molasses. My grandmother's remedy/ your idea of no retroactive fixes. I want the defence cuts to stand and the Bush tax cuts for 98% of Americans. There are fixes we need to make, though. IMO.
eager, not easy...typo.
You're a Libertarian, aren't you, Skip.
Yes India I am a Libertarian. I agree with the defense cuts, but do not agree with the "Bush" tax cuts. Most people at this blog love to point out that most of the debt we have came during the Bush years - especially from the unfunded wars AND Bush tax cuts. I do not see how we can continue with these tax cuts (funny that they are still called Bush tax cuts even after he left office 4 years ago) which are still not funded. Now if you use the tax on the wealthy to pay for them, that's fine, but then we really don't reduce the deficit which is the point of the tax increase on the rich folks.
Skip, What are you talking about?! If the Bush tax cuts expire it will remove 5 trillion from the deficit over time. You can't have two unfunded wars and then Lower taxes, which is what chucklehead did! Even Lincoln raised taxes to pay for the Civil War! Not just that, but the tax cuts were unfunded! The expensive prescription drug plan was unfunded. Bush handed us a big credit card debt along with a GOP that bows to a little tin, anti-tax god named Grover Norquist. How could we fix that over Obama's last 4 years when he was filabustered in everything he did and the GOP would not raise taxes to help the economy get back on track? I am frankly amazed that we are where we are this very morning, with unemployment at its lowest since 2008 when the sh#t hit the freakin fan!
I never did understand Libertarians. I agree, though, with legalizing pot. I think we should make all drugs legal, and treat addiction as the medical problem it is. (Off subject, but threw that in). The war on drugs is a bad joke!
I am also a pacifist. Build highways here, not in the middle east. End this unwinnable, unsustainable, unbearable war. These warring, tribal factions will be fighting amongst themselves a thousand years from now; just as they did a thousand years ago.
I agreed with a lot of what Paul wanted, but that's as far as it goes. Mostly I am a Socialist, but a conservative one. Yeah, I know...a dichotomy.
Well, being a Catholic accounts for some of my conservative social policies. I really believe in my religion.
It might make you happy, Skip, to know that my favourite place in the whole world is a Libertarian paradise called The Isle Of Man, in the Irish sea. If I had no roots here, I'd be GONE.
Especially now with this disfunction in the US government. It really scares me. Seems like the enemy is right here, in our congress, destroying our country. The GOP fears the T-party. So do I, but for different reasons.
Skip,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1m4Ml1x0nM&NR=1&feature=endscreen
@!$%#ing Goddamned Republicans. Pull your @!$%#ing collective heads out of your asses and STOP holding the entire country hostage just because you're a bunch of piss-ass sore losers. @!$%#ing BABIES.