How Do You Solve A Problem Like McCania?
May 16th, 2008 at 10:31 am by CrankyOn many days I conclude that McCain’s “maverick” schitck and his squishy enviro-nuttiness is enough to keep me home in November. Then there are days like this.
Take the recently passed congressional porkfest known as the Farm Bill.
When seen through the filter that politics is nothing more than a playground for the corrupt and incompetent, then the need to vote for the lesser of the two evils, if only to stanch the bleeding, makes more sense.
But Congress disagreed, with both chambers passing the measure by well more than the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto. The Senate voted 81-15, a day after the House approved it with 318 “yes” votes.
Enter the pander-bears. First up, Hillary:
I can hear strains of John Cougar in the background. Close your eyes. Do you see a 1956 pickup truck driving through a dusty field? Me too.
And Obama, somewhere in Nebraska there is a cracker voter waiting to hear from you.
“The bill places greater resources into renewable energy and conservation. And, during this time of rising food prices, the Farm Bill provides an additional $10 billion for critical nutrition programs. I am also pleased that the bill includes my proposal to help thousands of African-American farmers get their discrimination claims reviewed under the Pigford settlement.”
“This bill is far from perfect. I believe in tighter payment limits and a ban on packer ownership of livestock. As president, I will continue to fight for the interests of America’s family farmers and ranchers and ensure that assistance is geared towards those producers who truly need them, instead of large agribusinesses. But with so much at stake, we cannot make the perfect the enemy of the good.”
“By opposing the bill, President Bush and John McCain are saying no to America’s farmers and ranchers, no to energy independence, no to the environment, and no to millions of hungry people.”
Please note, that that last flourish appears courtesy of John Edwards’ hit single, “Two Americas”, ASCAP
Gawd, is there a cliche for every government program? That was a rhetorical question. Nevermind.
So, where does McCain come in? Happily right here.
“In today’s economy, when hardworking American families buy groceries they feel the sting of misguided federal agriculture polices. Instead of fine tuning our farm programs to improve their efficiency, we’ve allowed them to swell into mammoth government bureaucracies that generally exist to serve special interests at the behest of Congressional benefactors. Sixty-nine years after the Great Depression and the advent of the Farm Bill, well into the 21st Century, commodity prices have reached record highs. I believe American agriculture has progressed to the point where we no longer need government grown farms.
…
“The American taxpayer has been told before that Farm Bills and their thirst for subsidies were a necessary evil to provide our county—and the world—with affordable, abundant food. Today, as food prices reach historic highs, they’re being told the same thing. We must challenge that notion as grocery bills soar, food banks go bare, and food rationing occurs on a global scale. We must question policies that divert over 25 percent of corn out of the food supply and into subsidized ethanol production. Do Americans really want a support system that costs consumers $2 billion annually in higher sugar prices? Will we truly reduce our dependency on foreign oil by extending tariffs that make it too expensive to invest in sugar ethanol production? Can we honestly demand fair and free trade at Doha while domestic cotton growers dump subsidized cotton on the world market?
“The Farm Bill conference report is expected to cost taxpayers around $289 billion dollars. According to the Congressional Budget Office, this bill will exceed the government’s budget by $10 billion.
Give McCain this; he has a no-earmarks policy that he actually lives by and does what he says most of the time. Understand that “most” is a pretty phenomenal achievement for an elected official.











May 16th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
I promise I read the whole thing, and this post may help prevent my left hand from cutting off my right come November…but I just want to say how impressed I am at your “Sound of Music” title and theme.
I can’t seem to scrub the image of McCain in a habit out of my mind though.
May 16th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Thanks Michele. I’m not proud of knowing TSoM but I use it when necessary.
BTW, I apologize for that steaming pile of run-on sentence in the third graf.
May 17th, 2008 at 2:27 am
I served under John in VA-174 in Jacksonville, Florida @ Cecil Field NAS in 1976 and he was and still is a prick. He would not do anything for a veteran who had served under his command because he could’nt be bothered. He’s a turd, a traitor and should have been aborted at birth. That said, I’m moving to the woods while the Demoroncrats destroy our country.
May 18th, 2008 at 9:11 am
Sorry to hear that, Joe. Also sorry for my ignorance, but what is VA-174? Would you be interested in sharing more of your experience with John?
Thank you.