Usda Closes 259 Offices

[Carthoris]

Did any of you actually look at the budget for the USDA? They show 145 billion as the total budget and the smallest part of it? 6% is Other*. If you look, other is: *Includes Rural Development, Research, Food Safety, and Marketing and Regulatory functions. This means they are spending about 1% or so on food safety. 1.45 billion dollars.

I have to look at it this way to put it into perspective for myself. There are 300 million of us. That means they are spending about $500 per person in the USA just on the USDA. Of all that money, about 5 dollars a person goes to food safety. There are something like 150 million households. That is 1000 a year per household. Half of those households pay NO federal tax. So really, 70 million households are paying 2000 dollars a year. Maybe the numbers are rounded off and not exact, but they are real fucking close. Obviously this is dealing with averages, but you get the picture. Come on. Can any of you honestly say the USDA does work worth 150 billion? Or that in spending 150 billion is promoting the general welfare?

 

[cannabineer]

If you're a farmer who is working his land today because a subsidy staved off bankruptcy, you would say Yes. Imo maintaining a domestic ag capacity (and not getting that globalized outta here) is worth that money. Jmo. cn

 

[UncleBuck]

Imo maintaining a domestic ag capacity... is worth that money. Jmo. cn

it really is a national defense and national security issue in that respect.

 

[Carthoris]

If you're a farmer who is working his land today because a subsidy staved off bankruptcy, you would say Yes. Imo maintaining a domestic ag capacity (and not getting that globalized outta here) is worth that money. Jmo. cn

Subsidies are not what most of that 145 billion is from. Nor do the subsidies actually benefit US producers vs Foreign if you mean the SNAP/Food Stamp and the like. Which is 3/4 of the USDA's total expenditures. Giving people food grown in the USA and not the ability to buy whatever they want would cut the cost and more effectively subsidize the American farmer if that is what you wanted. Beggars can't be choosers and all.



Interesting read on the cons of farm subsidies.
http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/agriculture/subsidies

 

[Carthoris]

it really is a national defense and national security issue in that respect.

If it actually did that, it would be. It still wouldn't make it the right thing to do, but it could very well be a security/national defense issue. I might point out again the USDA budget that shows little goes to subsidize american farms. I would in fact argue that the biggest part of the USDA's budget Food Stamps and Snap make the price of food in America go up which makes imported food cheaper relative. This in turn causes more imports.