According to today's Des Moines Register, the Republicans have now revealed, to the extent they hadn't already done so, just how depraved they are in their willingness to accomodate the greed of the wealthy at the expense of the poor:
The Republican-controlled House has spared farm subsidies from cuts while slashing food aid to the poor and programs such as rural development.
The House on Tuesday voted 217-203 to approve a spending bill that cuts spending for the Agriculture Department and Food and Drug Administration by 13 percent for the budget year that starts Oct. 1, with much of the savings coming in international and domestic food aid, land-conservation programs and rural development. International food assistance programs would be cut by more than 30 percent.
That's only the beginning of what they did. They defeated by a margin of 228-186 a proposal to reduce from $1.25 million to $250,000 the maximum income that a farmer can have and still be eligible for subsidies. Although the amendment was offered by a Republican, Floyd Flake of Arizona, the great majority of Republicans voted against it (in other words, to keep subsidies at the current $1.25 million level), while most Democrats voted in favor of it.
Ironically, senior Republicans were actually BRAGGING about this monstrosity, that has billions for the rich, and barely even crumbs for those who need more food:
"This bill answers the call from Americans to reduce government spending while still providing for critical programs that keep American agriculture competitive in a global economy," said the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Hal Roger, R-Ky.
They also voted to bar the use of any funds for the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative, a program instituted by Agriculture Secretary Vilsack to promote local agriculture and small farms. They also voted to bar the Department of Agriculture from using any funds to help agriculture adapt to global warming. (I guess if it's an article of religious faith to you that global warming is all a hoax, it's a total waste of money to try to plan for it.) Finally, to add likely injury to insult, they refused to increase funding for food inspections by the FDA, despite Congress having already authorized more inspections.
The final vote on this abomination of a bill: 217-203, with all 184 Democrats voting against it, and Republicans voting in favor of it by a lopsided margin of 217-19. The message seems to be clear: If you're a wealthy farmer (or in many cases not even a farmer yourself, but somebody who has income from a farm) with income in the high six to low seven figures, you deserve to have your income supplemented by taxpayer money. But if you're poor and hungry, or if you'd like to have safe food, or to support small farmers selling locally, or if you think we should plan to avoid potentially massive famine caused by global warming, SCREW YOU!
For those here who sometimes contend that there's no real difference between Republicans and Democrats, I say just look at who voted which way on this bill.