GAMING THE PERCEPTION OF SUBSIDIZED FARMERS

Government employees are playing another big game with U.S. Citizens. This time it's a food game. Here's a brief of my overview on this game. Food Stamps/School lunch programs make up $75 BILLION dollars annually - within the farm bill. This should be carved off into a separate bill called (for example) "The Meals Bill," and plopped into any department other than United States Department of Agriculture. Conservation Easements (C.E.) Land Trusts, Wetlands and so forth make up approximately $5 billion annually. Why? I don't know other than what they appear to be doing, and that's taking control of our land and water; which has more to do with war without firing a shot, and less to do with conservation. I've never understood government's alleged conservation... like "soil banks." After mowing some 10 acres 55 years ago, I asked my dad, "if we still have to maintain those acres, why can't we grow something productive on them?" He didn't know, and neither has any "expert" I've asked since! If the feds really cared about keeping Ag providers in production, they'd kill the inheritance tax and not tax ag acres relative to any residential or commercial that grows up next to them. Upon sale of those acres, is the only time that appreciated value could maybe be taxed. Alternative fuels like ethanol are government funded. And, it takes 2 gallons of water (at the plant. Don't know how much in the field.) to make 1 gallon of ethanol. What do you suppose ethanol's ripple affect is on other food prices like say, tacos? I can't find a total annual Farm Bill budget, but for sure frivolous non-Ag and non-true conservation make up the lion's share. It's hard to find clear, identified targets, as they keep the numbers scattered, hidden, convoluted, moving. Example: On top of the $'s for Conservation Easements, $'s also go to groups like the TNC in some weird full circle back to backing C.E.'s and acquisitioning land. Point being, the annual subsidies of $5 billion to farmers pale next to the approximate $90+ billion the non-Ag programs receive. What actually ends up in the hands of small family farms is never revealed. Real farmers would rather the government get the hell out of most of their business. The ONLY area government could play a role, is in catastrophic, nature and man-made disasters as in insurance and markets, and, in order to insure the consumer doesn't have to spend more than ___% (Not sure what it is today, but yesterday it was 8%) of their discretionary income on food. The perpetuation of the myths- "welfare ranchers/cowboys/farmers" couldn't be further from the truth. But it's still used lavishly by eco-terrorists and jihadists, and groups including TNC, Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, Western Watersheds and Earthjustice. Why? To perhaps denigrate and justify their global effort to "shut down American agriculture?" I don't know. Why don't you ask them. What I do know, is that government employees (includes President Obama) can - if they really want to - stop gaming the perception of subsidized farmers.