Believe it or not I am always looking for good things to consider about the GOP. Trump’s a lost cause because his disdain for the job he holds, not to mention his compulsion to lie, more than offsets virtually anything positive he may inadvertently create. However, Congress is a large body, and if you can find nothing good about half of its membership then we really are at rock bottom.
One glimmer I felt hopeful about was what seemed a determined effort by GOP conservatives to rein in ridiculous farm subsidy payments that long ago gave up on any pretense of actually alleviating genuine hardship on our fruited plain. Instead they had become nothing other than graft goodies for agribusiness and wealthy donors with substantial rural land holdings deemed farms for the sole purpose of cashing in on government pork.
Of course, the nasty and mean-spirited obsession with foisting all manner of abasement on food stamp recipients remained a primary talking point when GOP Agriculture Committee members preened for Fox/AM. Yet and still, these days ANY indications of standing up to PAC monied lobbys by Republicans should not be discounted.
In fact, what was on the table in this regard was embarrassingly modest in the scheme of things. After all, the entire package approached $1 trillion, so trimming the fat off roughly $20 billion in annual subsidies shouldn’t have been that big a deal, right? Wrong!
At the start of negotiations things looked positive. Speaker Paul Ryan made clear the leadership backed subsidy reform by declaring Congress “shouldn’t be giving corporate farms, these large agribusiness companies, subsidies. I strongly believe that.” Indeed, out of the gate there were 18 separate proposals for reforming a system that had come to resemble nothing less than graft, quid pro quos paid for on the campaign trail.
Meanwhile, parallel to subsidy sanity was SNAP ugliness. Pursued under the mantle of “restoring integrity” to what for most recipients is a critical safety net, GOP negotiators led by Sen. Pat Roberts constantly fed the myth of welfare queen food stamp scammers which plays so well during appearances with the Fox prime time lineup.
Of course, as is the case with most Freedom Caucus crusades, the actual facts tell a completely different story. Fraud, while increasing in recent years, remains minuscule in the SNAP program, where families earning $16 K per year lose eligibility, and the average beneficiary receives a mere $125 per month. Moreover, data strongly supports the contention the program benefits exactly who it is supposed to…. those struggling to make ends meet while working or in between jobs. More than 80 percent of SNAP recipients had a job either the year before, during or the year after benefiting from the program. Alas, facts haven’t guided most GOP activity for years, and these negotiations were no exception. Forcing work requirements on the 49-59 age bracket of beneficiaries, those most likely to suffer serious health issues, as well as parents of 6-12 year old children, those most likely to need to stay home, was the disgust du jour this go round. Rep. K Michael Conaway of, where else, Texas called it tough love. “We believe breaking the poverty cycle is the only way forward,” intoned the paternal Odessa millionaire.
But ok, bullying nastiness aside, at least they were taking on the big money and pruning those multi-million dollar big business and donor giveaways. I mean at least some of those 18 proposals would make their way into the final package. Let’s be realists, how about half? A quarter? Two or three?! Frickin One?!!!
The final $867 billion package contained exactly zero of the proposals for trimming subsidies. Some were actually increased!! One amendment sought to trim the net income of couples receiving a subsidy from $1.8 million to $1.4 million, really nothing more than requiring creative CPA ideas at tax time… it went nowhere. In fact, the final bill actually allowed more distant kin, such as cousins and nephews to get in on the action.
Of course, emerging from the backrooms where the deal was hammered out, Republican negotiators were not anxious to discuss how their ambitious subsidy reform agenda was whittled down to nothing. Instead, they crowed how proud they were of manfully forcing “program integrity” on the grift-laden SNAP guidelines. After all, better to abase 40 million of your fellow citizens over $125.00 per month than break a sweat telling a millionaire or agribusiness CEO that their gravy boat is not quite as full this fiscal year. Lawmaking is all about choices.
So my search continues. But fear not, I am forever vigilant to spy pristine lily pads in the swamp. And none of this is to say Democrats weren’t complicit in this monstrosity of a farm bill, they were. Debby Stabenow of MI, like Roberts, has trouble with “no” when big money does the asking. However, the critical difference is this: Stabenow also speaks for those the GOP only views as chattel for enhancing their wretched Fox/AM bona fides, to be preyed upon whenever political advantage beckons. As for subsidy queens, they don’t appear to have much to fear from either side, least of all “principled conservatives” who talk tough and love to bully those with nothing, but bend over quicker than anybody when ordered back into line. BC