Government Debt is Your Debt

Government spending (Photo credit: 401K)
While I am a conservative, I think the Clinton was best when it came to ag spending policies. The farm economy was improving, and by the year 2000 (the end of his term), the budget surplus was as much as 200 billion dollars.
But after the Bush Administration's Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (dubbed by the Wall Street Journal a "10 year $173.5 billion bucket of slop")agriculture budget spending skyrocketed. It sometimes increased by $25 billion a pop. It was enough to almost immediately put the budget in a deficit of negative $150 billion.
Where some divisions of ag got more than enough money to run, others like the Grassland Reserve Program (GRP) had to turn down program applicants due to lack of support. And despite the increase in conservation programs, more than 22 million acres of native grassland was lost in 2005.
In 2005, despite the fact that pretax farm profits made a record of $72 billion, the government still gave them $25 billion in "aid", 50% more than they gave families on welfare.
Flash forward to today, another Democrat, President Barack Obama has been in office for almost a full term. Has federal spending decreased? Are we anywhere near coming out of a budget deficit? The answer is no. But with the 2012 Farm Bill coming up, we better keep in mind that increased government spending doesn't necessarily help agriculture. Remember, Government Debt is the people's debt. As a tax payer, it is now on my generation's shoulders to bail out the government. I feel like I shouldn't have to, but I must.
But first, some policies need changing. Some attitudes towards finances needs changing. The USDA needs to redefine it's purpose. As a very independent person, I don't want to have to be dependent on the government for my next paycheck. Once they start doing that, they own me, my farm, and my life. So when we argue and fuss once the Farm Bill starts being formulated in Congress, lets keep in mind that bigger doesn't always equal better. I guess we sometimes forget that because sometimes they become a faceless entity from Washington D.C. that runs the agriculture in America. We need to remember: the America's Department of Agriculture is OUR Department of Agriculture.
Image via Wikipedia 

Sources:
Historical Tables, Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Year 2007; Congressional Budget Office.

Imhoff, Daniel. "Chapter 9: Freedom to Farm and the Legacy of Record Payoffs." Foodfight: The Citizen's Guide to a Food and Farm Bill. Healdsburg, CA: Watershed Media, 2007. 53-55. Print.