Joel Connelly has a great piece on the Farm Bill, and what the House GOP’s failure to pass it means for Washington.
The defining program for American agriculture expired on Sept. 30. It should have been renewed by Congress last year. The Senate passed a bipartisan bill by a 68-32 vote earlier this year. The House Agriculture Committee cooperated and produced a bill. But it was stalled by a revolt in the House Republican Caucus by members demanding deep cuts in food stamps.
“Those are the same people who wanted to shut down the government,” Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said in disgust Thursday.
Cantwell and Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., who sits on the House Agriculture Committee, held a briefing in a cold Seattle warehouse to discuss the consequences.
I am struck again and again with the cruelty of the GOP position. The fact that they’re willing to sacrifice so much so that they can, what, harm people on Food Stamps? It’s so far away from the ideal that we’re all in this together.
NBC News reports tonight that Republicans are taking the position defense spending isn’t “trade bait,” i.e. their defense wants must be fully funded and spending cuts are to be achieved by pitting entitlement programs against each other. Btw, an aircraft carrier now costs $13.8 billion, which would pay for a year of hospice care for a million senior citizens on Medicare.