On May 7th at the League of Women Voters Forum in Chico, the
Chico ER reported as follows:
"A reference to the Farm Bill, which is up for reauthorization this year, had most candidates decrying farm subsidies. The exception was LaMalfa, whose family owns a rice farm in Richvale and has received more than $4 million in federal subsidies over the past 15 years. He said subsidies are necessary to keep America’s farms competitive. "
It is important to note that the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank disagrees with Doug LaMalfa.
"Founded in 1973,
The Heritage Foundation is a research and educational
institution—a think tank—whose mission is to formulate and promote
conservative
public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government,
individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense."
In an article titled,
"How Farm Subsidies Harm Taxpayers, Consumers, and Farmers, Too," the Heritage Foundation dispels the myth that farm subsidies are "necessary to keep America’s farms competitive," as asserted by LaMalfa. The Heritage Foundation lists five myths in the article linked above.
Myth #3: Maintaining a cheap and stable food supply.
"Some contend that food markets would fluctuate
wildly without farm subsidies. In reality, food prices of both subsidized and
unsubsidized crops are relatively stable. Given that the percentage of family
budgets spent on food has dropped from 25 percent to 10 percent since 1933, any
potential price instability would have an increasingly small impact on family
budgets. Even if price stabilization was
necessary, price support programs have largely been replaced by commodity
subsidies that stimulate overproduction rather than stabilize prices."
"Nor do farm subsidies contribute to lower food
costs. Two-thirds of food production is unsubsidized and thus relatively
unaffected by subsidies. Of the remaining one-third, price reductions caused by
crop subsidies are balanced by conservation programs that raise prices.
Furthermore, food prices are based not only on crop prices, but also on food
processing, transportation, and marketing costs. Bruce Babcock, professor of
economics at Iowa State University, has calculated that eliminating farm
subsidies would have virtually no effect on food prices."
Clearly, Doug LaMalfa is not the conservative politican that he leads on to be. He is attempting to go to Washington DC in order to protect his farm subsidies. We need someone in Congress who is serious about reducing spending and getting our debt under control.
What we really do not need is another politician in Congress looking out for his own self-interest instead of looking out for the interest of the American people.
