2013 Farm Bill and Doug LaMalfa and John Garamendi

I have not been posting a lot on this blog lately, as I have been very busy with life. Especially in the spring and summer, life gets busy (and more fun). For the first time in a few months, I checked this blogs stats and discovered that an article about Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) and farm subsidies jumped to the number one most popular blog post ever written on this blog.

If you have not been paying attention, Doug LaMalfa has been getting a lot of ink nationally in connection with the 2013 Farm Bill.

On June 14, 2013, the Wall Street Journal wrote about Japonica rice which is the formal name for medium- and short-grain rice strains commonly called sticky rice. Doug LaMalfa is a fourth-generation Japonica Rice farmer whose farm has received over $5.1 million in farm subsidies since 1995.

While congressmen who receive this subsidy tout that they are ending direct payments, they are replacing direct payments with "guarantees against drops in commodity prices that are in some ways replacing the much-maligned direct payments to farmers Congress is seeking to end" - A huge corporate give away including guaranteed prices.

"The sticky-rice provision won strong support from, among others, two Northern California lawmakers from neighboring districts, according to congressional aides and people working with the rice industry: Freshman Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa, a fourth-generation Japonica Rice farmer who sits on the House agriculture committee; and Democratic Rep. John Garamendi, a rancher and pear farmer" (incidentally Dan Logue announced yesterday that he will be running against Garamendi in 2014).

"'What industry would have the temerity to demand that the government guarantee a price?' said Scott Faber, a vice president at EWG, which opposes such price programs. 'Sushi rice costs more to produce, but it yields more per acre, and costs more to buy,' he said. 'This is like guaranteeing a price for the iPhone 5.'"

Also on June 14, 2013, the Los Angeles Times wrote about the hypocrisy between cutting Food Stamps but at the same time dramatically increasing payments to corporate farms.

"As a member of Congress, Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) is proud to stand up for the principles of limited government and individual responsibility."

"The first-term congressman expresses skepticism about such safety-net programs as food stamps, regarding them as the handiwork of an 'oppressive' government that snatches wages from the hands of working people. Helping the poor is better left to individuals and churches, he said at a recent committee hearing in Washington, because then 'it comes from the heart, not from a badge or from a mandate.'"

"As a rice farmer from California's fertile Central Valley, however, this same Doug LaMalfa has done pretty well by the 'oppressive' federal government," as his farm has collected over $5.1 million in government crop subsidies.

Yesterday on the floor of Congress, Doug LaMalfa stated that he wanted the Farm Bill to pass already. If I were in that hot seat, I would likely want the bill to pass quickly too.

Proponents of the farm bill claim the bill will reduce the deficit, but it is actually a 56 percent increase from the 2008 farm bill, which was projected to cost $604 billion, but not surprisingly, the 2008 farm bill actually ended up costing much more.

I urge you to read the articles above by the Wall Street Journal and the LA Times, and form your own opinion about the farm bill and our local proponents.