Ewg.org tell us that between 1995 and 2016 $349 billion was paid out in farm subsidies, crop insurance, disaster programs and conservation payments. A farming community lawyer once told me that whenever a new farm bill got passed he would go through it with his clients to find the best way to maximize their income. The farm bill is a cash cow, a sacred cash cow. Most conservatives see the farm bill as a corporate welfare program, but for some reason, it escapes law maker scrutiny.
So it's encouraging to see this: Chuck Grassley’s Amendment to Farm Bill Would End Subsidies for Off-Site ‘Farmers’.
“Under the current law,” the senator said, “a designation called ‘Active Personal Management Only’ allows people who do not work on farms to get farm subsidies of $125,000, or $250,000 for a married couple.”
Grassley’s amendment would tighten restrictions on who receives farm subsidies, boiling down eligibility to only farmers and their immediate families who live and work on the farm.
It's a start.
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10:37 AM 6/13/2018
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