Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

I agree, Rubi. Our national priorities are all screwed up. But our Congress has one overriding priority...getting themselves re-elected.

Read the following article about how the House can't agree on how or even whether to cut the Farm Bill that's been bouncing around the House and Senate for weeks now. You suggest that the food stamp program be cut. I did too--I suggested it be eliminated over ten years. But what can't our "fiscally conservative" Republicans agree on? Whether or not to cut $16.5 billion out of $750 billion in proposed food stamp spending. As a percentage what's that, a couple less moon pies and RC colas?

What do they seem to agree on? Gutting the school lunch program...cutting payments to farmers for not growing crops a bit (remember that increasingly farms are getting bigger and are corporate-owned). Not many lost votes there.

What don't they want cut in the bill? Subsidies to the sugar beet industry, corn, peanut, soybeans, cotton and other crops. Why, I wonder? Do you think the farm lobby money has anything to do with it?

But the House didn't have the cajones to vote on the bill and offend anyone before the election. The Republicans kicked the can down the road and tabled the bill until sometime after the election!

Remember all you committed conservatives out there. The GOP absolutely controls the House. They can pass whatever they want, whenever they want. They sure don't want to take a whack at the food stamp program, but they've wasted two weeks of time and millions of dollars voting to repeal ObamaCare thirty-three separate times? But they don't want to vote on anything if by voting they don't meet their top priority...getting re-elected. Until they have the boldness to do what really is necessary, we'll just keep speeding towards the financial cliff that's coming up. This is the party that you all say is our hope for the future? Baloney...they're no different than the Democrats.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/13/us...farm-bill.html