Transcript: No mention of proposal to eliminate Direct Payments to farmers... Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack issued no statement on Monday after President Obama released his deficit reduction plan, which includes a proposal for some big changes and cuts to USDA programs. Instead, Vilsack today published a post on both the White House and USDA blogs, re-assuring America's hardworking farmers, ranchers and growers that the plan is good for the nation. The President's plan, Vilsack wrote, is bipartisan, and "sets us on a path to compete by asking everyone to pay their fair share, while investing in the innovation and economic opportunities we need to win the future." (Above: Vilsack holds a copy of the American Jobs Act, which is paid for under the President's proposal)
"The plan will strengthen our disaster assistance programs," Vilsack wrote. "After witnessing flood, drought, hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires this year – I am even more certain of the importance of this component of the safety net."
Vilsack also praises plans to streamline crop insurance programs, as well as reduce federal subsidies to these, and he notes that the three percent budget cut proposed for conservation programs "challenges us to leverage our still-significant investments in conservation to attract more private sector investment." But the Secretary doesn't mention the elimination of Direct Payments to farmers, which could be the most contentious part of the President's proposal.
The Administration says more than 50 percent of Direct Payments go to farmers who earn $100,000 or more annually, whether or not they actually grow crops, and eliminating these payments will save $3 billion annually.
Direct Payments "a lot of times pay large farms for crops that they don't grow," President Obama said on Monday.
"Taxpayers continue to foot the bill" for farmers who "are experiencing record yields and prices," the Administration notes in the text of the President's plan.
Asking high-income Americans to "pay their fair share" is something the President and Administration officials have repeated over and over in recent weeks.
"This is not class warfare. It’s math," President Obama said on Monday. "The money is going to have to come from someplace. And if we’re not willing to ask those who've done extraordinarily well to help America close the deficit and we are trying to reach that same target of $4 trillion, then the logic, the math says everybody else has to do a whole lot more."
Under that thinking, eliminating Direct Payments is not Agri-class warfare, it's math.
The President's proposal got trounced on Monday in a joint statement from Representative Frank Lucas (R-OK), Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, and Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, but they didn't mention the elimination of Direct Payments, either. Download the President's full plan [PDF].
Vilsack's full blogpost:
Lessons From The Farm To Strengthen America
A week ago, President Obama released the American Jobs Act, a specific plan to jumpstart our economy and put Americans to work today. It contains ideas that both parties in Washington have supported. And yesterday, he laid out a plan that will pay for it – and for other long-term investments we need to stay competitive – while reducing our deficits.
His plan takes a balanced approach. It looks for savings across government. And it asks everyone to do their part and pay their fair share so we can live within our means.
For agriculture, the plan focuses on what the President and I believe is one of the most pressing challenges facing producers right now: maintaining a strong safety net and disaster assistance programs that will work for all farmers and ranchers, no matter what they produce or where.
The plan will strengthen our disaster assistance programs, which are currently set to run out of funding at the end of the month. It means that farmers knocked down by natural disaster can get their operations back on track. After witnessing flood, drought, hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires this year – I am even more certain of the importance of this component of the safety net.
By modernizing our crop insurance program and making modest changes to the subsidy that crop insurance companies receive, we’ll make sure that we improve the programs and implement them more efficiently.
The plan proposes reducing conservation funding by 3 percent to help control the deficit. But it challenges us to leverage our still-significant investments in conservation to attract more private sector investment so we don’t lose ground in our effort to conserve soil and water resources.
Farmers and ranchers have worked over the years – especially following the farm crisis of the 1980s – to reduce their debt but thrive by investing wisely, adapting, innovating, and cutting back when necessary. Agriculture shows us that by investing wisely and cutting wisely, we can grow the economy for the long term, and get our country’s fiscal house in order.
The President’s plan follows that mold. It will invest to create jobs now, maintaining a strong safety net and creating a better market for our agricultural goods. And it sets us on a path to compete by asking everyone to pay their fair share, while investing in the innovation and economic opportunities we need to win the future.
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*USDA photo by by Christopher Rolinson/StartPoint Media, Inc, taken at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA, on Friday, September 16, 2011.