Still Time

Grandpa always used to tell me, “Granddaughter, where there’s a will, there’s a way”. Too bad Grandpa isn’t still around to tell Congress that. Time is running out for those hoping that Congress will pass a new farm bill by the end of the year. Many economic experts compare the 2012 Farm Bill discussions to those of the 1991 Farm Bill, and agree that if Congress were willing to compromise, there’d still be time to complete the Farm Bill. Granted it’s going to take some work on their part, and yes I understand that that’s always easier said than done, but the similarities between the Senate and the House farm bill drafts should make it easier to come to an agreement. Both sides want spending cuts, with amounts that are similarly close - $32 billion or $35 billion, with farm subsidies being their main target of choice for such cuts. Most of the bickering continues to be over food stamps, with the White House wanting to cut crop insurance, crop subsidies, and conservation, leaving food stamps for the poor virtually untouched, while the House approved version gets half of its $35 billion in cuts from food stamps, and the remainder from crop subsidies and conservation. So close, but yet so far.