Fwd: Senate Farm Bill Debate - Started Today
From: Patty Guerrero (pattypaxearthlink.net)
Date: Tue, 21 May 2013 11:52:08 -0700 (PDT)
I think this is very important, so hope you can call our senators.  Thanks,  
Patty

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Adam Warthesen" <adamw [at] landstewardshipproject.org>
> Date: May 21, 2013 12:49:23 PM CDT
> To: pattypax [at] earthlink.net
> Subject: Senate Farm Bill Debate - Started Today
> Reply-To: adamw [at] landstewardshipproject.org
> 
> 
> 
> Farm Bill Action Alert UPDATE:
> 
> U.S. Senate Farm Bill Debate Has Started
> 
> There are dozens of amendments that will be on tap for the Senate Farm Bill 
> (S. 954), which is on the Senate floor today. We expect the process to take a 
> couple of days with debate and votes. A top priority for the Land Stewardship 
> Project is securing reforms to the uncapped crop subsidies provided through 
> the federal crop insurance program. See the “Background” section below for 
> more on federal crop insurance.
> 
> Urge MN Senators to support the Coburn – Durbin amendment:This amendment by 
> Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) would place an adjusted 
> gross income limit on crop insurance for those big farm operators and 
> investors that make over $750,000 a year. The amendment would reduce the 
> subsidy rate (paid for by taxpayers) provided for the insurance policies 
> these huge and wealthy operators/investors get. Essentially, millionaires 
> don’t need the same rate of support as rank-and-file farmers.  LSP would like 
> this subsidy rate to be much lower, but establishing even this limit would be 
> progress and has never been done before. All other farm programs have similar 
> limits, and so should crop insurance.
> 
> Both Minnesota U.S. Senators supported this amendment in 2012.
> 
> What we’re hearing:
> 
> With Senator Amy Klobuchar (202-224-3244) we DO NOT have a sense of how she 
> will vote on the Coburn-Durbin amendment. Senator Klobuchar, who serves on 
> the Agriculture Committee, did support the Farm Bill package in committee 
> that unfortunately dropped this crop insurance adjusted gross income limit.
> 
> In talking to Senator Al Franken’s office (202-224-5641), we’re hearing he is 
> inclined to support the amendment, but that he is getting intense pressure to 
> vote no.
> 
> Contact Senator Klobuchar & Senator Franken
> 
> If you’ve already made a call, thanks. If you have not, please call today!! 
> And everyone should feel free to share this alert with family and friends. 
> How the two Minnesota U.S. Senators vote will be crucial to whether the 
> amendment is adopted or not.
> 
> Draft message:
> 
> “I’m calling to leave Senator (Klobuchar/Franken) a message.  This is 
> _____________ from __________. 
> 
> Federally subsidized crop insurance needs reform. While important for 
> farmers, it needs to be more accountable and fiscally responsible. I’m asking 
> the Senator to support the Durbin-Coburn amendment that sets limitations on 
> crop insurance. The Senator was right to support this in 2012 and should 
> support it again.
> 
> NOTE: Anybody in Minnesota can make this call. If you are a farmer, make sure 
> to tell them that. It’s important, given the quick timeframe, to leave a 
> message on an answering machine if you don’t get ahold of an aide to the 
> Senators. 
> 
> _____________________
> 
> Background on Federally Subsidized Crop Insurance: 
> 
> The largest piece of farm-orientated spending is the nearly $94 billion in 
> federally subsidized crop insurance — most of which goes for crops like corn, 
> soybeans and wheat.  Farmers buy crop insurance from corporations such as 
> Wells Fargo, ADM and John Deere, which receive federal consent to offer 
> policies. These corporations hire crop insurance agents that sell policies to 
> farmers. On average, 62 cents of every dollar of coverage an individual 
> farmer purchases is paid for by taxpayers. Another huge cost is the millions 
> that corporations get paid generously for administering the program. To top 
> it off, insurance corporations get “reinsurance” with the federal government 
> for any big losses they might have. 
> 
> In 2012, a record year for federally subsidized crop insurance, federal 
> spending totaled $16 billion; in 2011, the previous record, it was $9.4 
> billion.
> 
> Crop insurance is an important tool for helping farmers manage risk. But in 
> its current form, it accelerates concentration of land ownership and 
> destruction of the environment. It’s a crop subsidy system with no limits and 
> no caps on how much producers can receive — facilitating the biggest of the 
> big farm operators’ expansion efforts (with guaranteed farm revenue) and 
> large payments to insurance corporations every year.
> 
> Additional background on Durbin-Coburn Amendment: U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, a 
> Republican from Oklahoma, and Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, 
> have offered an amendment that attempts to rein in the costs and big 
> giveaways that come with crop insurance. This amendment would ensure a 
> fiscally responsible farm safety net by reducing by 15 percentage points the 
> annual crop insurance premium subsidies for program participants whose 
> adjusted gross annual income exceeds $750,000 ($1.5 million for most married 
> participants). This amendment would save close to $1.3 billion over 10 years, 
> and would ensure that millionaires pay closer to 50 percent of their own 
> insurance costs. The government currently pays the vast majority of those 
> costs. This amendment passed 66-33 in 2012 and is winnable again, but it will 
> be very close.
> 
> Other Crop Insurance amendments LSP is supporting:
> 
> Shaheen-Toomey amendment: This amendment by Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and 
> Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) would place a $50,000 limit on the annual amount of 
> premium subsidies any one farmer can receive, and would require those 
> receiving the premium subsidies to be actual working farmers, not non-farm 
> investors and corporations.  The Farm Bill that will be considered on the 
> floor already has the identical $50,000 cap and "actively engaged in farming" 
> rule, but it only applies to commodity subsidies, not insurance subsidies. 
> The Shaheen-Toomey amendment would apply the same, consistent rules to the 
> entire farm safety net, rather than just a portion of the safety net.  It 
> would help restore equity and fiscal responsibility to the program.
> 
> Gillibrand amendment: Senator Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY) is offering this 
> amendment that reduces the rate of reimbursements that crop insurance 
> corporations can receive for the policies they offer.  Bringing it down will 
> make the program more accountable and cost less. Those savings, which would 
> be nearly $4.5 billion, would be applied to food support and nutrition 
> programs, including the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program aimed 
> primarily at children.
> 
>  
> If you have any questions, call LSP’s Adam Warthesen at 612-722-6377 or 
> e-mail adamw [at] landstewardshipproject.org.
> 
>  
> 
> Unsubscribe | Privacy Policy
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 


No more hurting people----PEACE
Martin Richard

  • (no other messages in thread)

Results generated by Tiger Technologies Web hosting using MHonArc.