Letter: Farm bill should alarm voters
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The U.S. House passed a $290 billion veto-proof majority farm bill that will increase subsidies for farmers, food stamps and a sprinkling of pet projects.
President Bush promised a veto because the measure is too expensive and generous to farmers now who are enjoying record earnings, and is bloated with earmarks.
Two-thirds of the bill is for food stamps and emergency food for the needy; $40 billion is for farm subsidies; $30 billion is for farmers to idle their land and other environmental programs.
A senator from Illinois used to say, “A billion dollars here and a billion dollars there; before long you are talking about real money,” as if a billion dollars is not really money.
I expected our U.S. Rep. Don Cazayoux, D-New Roads, and especially U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, and U.S. Rep. Charles Melancon, D-Napoleonville, to vote for this giveaway, but not U.S. Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-Quitman, and U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette. Thanks to U.S. Rep. Jim McCrery, R-Shreveport, and U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Metairie, for voting no.
I understand that elected officials are supposed to represent their constituents, but at what point does a public servant serve the total public, not just special interests. That’s why President Bush planned to veto the bill.
Our local, state and national voters need to wake up to the fact that when too many people are trying to get in the wagon, there comes a time when the people pulling the wagon no longer have the strength or the will to pull it.
Below is one version of a comment that is appropriate, whether it is spuriously attributed to a Scottish historian or not: “Democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote for themselves largess from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always fails under loose fiscal policy.”
Sammy Rispone
retired electrical contractor
Greenwell Springs
President Bush promised a veto because the measure is too expensive and generous to farmers now who are enjoying record earnings, and is bloated with earmarks.
Two-thirds of the bill is for food stamps and emergency food for the needy; $40 billion is for farm subsidies; $30 billion is for farmers to idle their land and other environmental programs.
A senator from Illinois used to say, “A billion dollars here and a billion dollars there; before long you are talking about real money,” as if a billion dollars is not really money.
I expected our U.S. Rep. Don Cazayoux, D-New Roads, and especially U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, and U.S. Rep. Charles Melancon, D-Napoleonville, to vote for this giveaway, but not U.S. Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-Quitman, and U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette. Thanks to U.S. Rep. Jim McCrery, R-Shreveport, and U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Metairie, for voting no.
I understand that elected officials are supposed to represent their constituents, but at what point does a public servant serve the total public, not just special interests. That’s why President Bush planned to veto the bill.
Our local, state and national voters need to wake up to the fact that when too many people are trying to get in the wagon, there comes a time when the people pulling the wagon no longer have the strength or the will to pull it.
Below is one version of a comment that is appropriate, whether it is spuriously attributed to a Scottish historian or not: “Democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote for themselves largess from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always fails under loose fiscal policy.”
Sammy Rispone
retired electrical contractor
Greenwell Springs
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