Petty is as Petty does
Jul 19, 2009 Political
Well, I know elections have consequences, but this administration has become so petty that it is now trying to outdo other departments in a contest that truly has no winners here, but a lot of a$$holes.
Because Texas didn’t vote for Hussein, and also (I am sure) because Governor Perry chose not to accept some of the stimulus money, the administration, in the form of the USDA, has delayed payments to farmers and ranchers affected by a now two year old drought that has caused many to sell their entire herd, or plow whole ruined crops under. This is pettiness on a grand scale- if Texas had voted for Hussein, they would already have the money, and believe me- some of the first people we should help are our nations farmers and ranchers.
This is because we need to eat- at least once a day, preferably more than that, and there are not many farms in Chicago, or New York City.
But the pettiness goes on-
U.S. Department of Agriculture officials say drought-stricken Texas farmers and ranchers will have to wait until the fall for their share of $3 billion in federal assistance.
The Austin American-Statesman reported Saturday that Texas lawmakers say the delay is unacceptable as crop losses mount from a punishing drought.
The Supplemental Revenue Assistance program is part of the $290 billion farm bill approved by Congress in 2008.
The program reimburses farmers 60 percent of their losses, but the USDA says money for 2008 losses would not be disbursed until October or November. Losses from 2009 will be paid in 2010.
In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack addressing this year’s delay, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn wrote that “these producers have done all that USDA has asked of them in order to prove their dire conditions and confirm eligibility, and yet they wait.”
U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said in an e-mailed statement that she met Friday with the Texas Farm Bureau. Hutchison said immediate assistance would give farmers and ranchers “the help they need to make it through the current drought.”
Texas ranchers lost $569 million from November to March, according to the Texas AgriLife Extension Service. When livestock losses from earlier in 2008 are added, the total is $829 million.
chron.com
That’s a lot of money. And these farmers and ranchers are entitled to this money under the laws that had been passed in 2008, so is it politics that is delaying this?
Federal declarations of emergency can pave the way for farmers and ranchers to seek low-interest loans. But in an April 27 letter to Perry, Vilsack said the USDA couldn’t accurately determine agriculture production losses for 184 counties.
Texas farmers and ranchers have received $4.6 million in emergency loan funding this fiscal year, USDA spokesman Caleb Weaver said. He added that, starting next week, ranchers nationwide will begin to receive payments through the Livestock Indemnity Program, which compensates ranchers for livestock deaths caused by natural disaster.
Chuck Herrick, 64, who owns land in Bastrop and Caldwell counties in central Texas, said he and other ranchers have suffered from the drought since 2006 and the financial impact has been crushing. Herrick was forced to sell most of his cattle, even as he watched prices fall.
“There wasn’t anything for them to eat,” he said, because the lack of rain left once-green pastures dry and brittle.
The Texas Department of Agriculture in 2006 paid Herrick about $250 for his livestock losses, an amount he called “insulting.”
chron.com
Insulting indeed- even if that was for just one of his cows (or steers), that would not be fair, but now to have to wait, when you know that the banks will not wait even one day, and we could be seeing drastic farmland repossessions like during the Great Depression.
It has already been shown that states that voted for Hussein have received twice as much in the way of money for their respective states as those that voted for McCain.
And I thought Barry said once that it was his job to be president of ALL the people- a memo that apparently hasn’t gone to anyone else in his small, petty administration filled with small minded, petty people.
Sometimes Barry, you need to lead by example- and punish those who do not measure up to your words.
Or your words mean nothing- that’s a big surprise.
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Tags: drought, federal lies, food, punitive retaliation