THE 2018 FARM BILL There's Plenty of Blame – and Manure – to Be Spread Around
Traditionally, a farm bill is a cozy bipartisan boondoggle. But in this case, the partisan doggles failed to cozily boon. The Senate is threatening to bring forth a farm bill of its own. And this is likely to be so much bigger, stupider, and more wildly expensive than the House version that – no matter how vitriolic their political differences – it will bring Democrats and Republicans together to rob the public. Impartial Reader: Rob the public of how much? picking of the taxpayers’ pockets – dispenses boodle, booty, and pelf to both the hopeless clodhoppers of stalwart Republicanism and the urban slobs of the Democratic base. The House of Representatives can’t get anything done. Thank goodness. But don’t get your hopes up...
An Impartial Reader asks: What’s up with the farm bill? On May 18, the big, stupid, wildly expensive farm bill – the “Agricultural and Nutrition Act of 2018” – was voted down in the House of Representatives. Traditionally, a farm bill is a cozy bipartisan boondoggle. But in this case, the partisan doggles failed to cozily boon. Democrats refused to vote for the bill because they’re furious about its stricter work and job- training rules for Food Stamp recipients. And 30 conservative Republicans refused to vote for the bill because they’re furious about... all sorts of things... about the ridiculous spending in the bill, but also about the refusal of Democrats to compromise on immigration policy, and about other Republicans being complicit with Democratic intransigence, and... In short, the House of Representatives is so bitterly divided by ideology that its denizens cannot agree on even such an obvious piece of log-rolling and jobbery as the farm bill. The farm bill – which, with an even-handed
By P.J. O'Rourke
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American Consequences 59
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