Global Fund is Billions Short

From the NY Times. I have been speaking to my US Rep about this to see what she can do about it. Please do the same with yours! -ccyl
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Global Fund Is Billions Short

By DONALD G. MCNEIL JR
Published: February 2, 2009
Because of the economic downturn, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is running short of money, global business and health leaders said last week.


Mackson Wasamunu/Reuters
‘TIGHTEN OUR BELTS’ Rajat Gupta, chairman of Global Fund.
Pledges to the fund from donor nations are running about $5 billion short of what is needed through 2010, Rajat Gupta, the chairman of the fund’s board, said in a conference call with reporters from Davos, Switzerland.

One of the last rounds of support for poor countries’ disease-fighting programs was postponed, another was cut by 10 percent and countries making requests were told to expect 25 percent cuts.

“I’m hopeful and confident that donors will continue to finance this,” Mr. Gupta said, promising to scrutinize expenditures carefully and “tighten our belts.”

Jeffrey Sachs, the Columbia University development economist and one of those joining him on the call, was more vehement. The poor are refused $5 billion, he said angrily, while wealthy countries have found $3 trillion for bank bailouts and Wall Street bankers awarded themselves $18 billion in holiday bonuses while accepting those bailouts.

“This is absolutely in violation of the life and death pledges that the rich world made to the poor,” he said. “I would suggest the administration reclaim those bonuses and put the money into the Global Fund immediately.”

Sex for Garbage

Sometimes a shocking story (shocking to those living lives of comfort) sweeps around the anti-poverty circles, that succintly highlights the urgent need for aid and advocacy. The last one I featured here was the story about nursing mothers eating mud cakes just to fill their stomachs. Horrible. This next one comes from Bread for the World who has staff traveling abroad in Central America. Here is an excerpt from Brian Duss' experience in Nicaragua...

"Have you ever heard of people trading sex for garbage? In the La Chureca landfill just outside of Managua, children scavenge 100 acres of garbage for anything that can be sold for pennies. Sometimes girls have sex with the truck drivers who dump refuse at the landfill in exchange for bottles or aluminum cans -- instead of the 20 cents they might otherwise get. What can you even do with information like that? Seriously. Well, a good first step would be to write your senators and representative in Congress and let them know that you want them to make foreign assistance a priority. "

Read the entire entry here

Their trip is still going on, so you can check into the Bread blog at www.breadblog.org to see what other countries they visit and what they are up to.

American soy beans, staple of Indonesian poor, priced out of reach

This is a story I saw in the Chicago trib from the AP that makes me want to just throw up my hands not knowing even exactly what to ask for or lobby for.

American soy beans, staple of Indonesian poor, priced out of reach

If anyone has opinions for solutions, I'd like to hear them. This story is another case of an impoverished nation with people suffering because of prices of American commodities. Usually, I'm advocating against American subsidies making cheap products that underprice local foods so that poor countries can't even sell their own goods in their own country. In this case, we have gone corn crazy...planting so much corn that we've created a shortage of soy beans...making soy beans too expensive for Indonesians to buy.

A quote from the article:
"A number of years ago, the farmer got blamed because corn and bean prices were too cheap and farmers overseas were going broke," said Henning, 50. "Now, they are saying the prices are too high and people can't afford to buy the food. So, we kind of feel we are in a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation."

I feel like I just don't know enough about economics to know how in the world you regulate this stuff so people aren't starving!

Greater Chicago Food Depository on CBS

GCFD was recently featured in a short segment on the CBS evening news. It was about how the gas prices are hitting the agencies that help the hungry. GCFD has a serious need for the trucks that deliver the food throughout the area. They predict spending $40,000 more this year for gas that otherwise could be used to buy 30 tons of food. Six thousand more people are showing up every week at the Chicago area food pantries that GCFD serve.

http://www.chicagosfoodbank.org/site/PageServer?pagename=CBS_news

Good bit, Kate Maehr.

Somalia today: Food Riots with Fatalities

"I've never demonstrated before, but I'm not ashamed because if you can't eat, you will do whatever you can," said Abdullahi Mohammed, 57, of Mogadishu. "Before I was eating three times a day, but now sometimes it's not even once."

This quote from the LA Times coverage of today's food riot in Somalia really leapt out at me. The food riots have started and are well underway in the developing world. Today, the issue was that shops refused to accept the Somali shilling, preventing citizens to buy food with the only currency they could hold. Gunfire and grenades were used upon the looting protesters in Mogadishu. I am heartbroken considering that more of the same is sure to come. I think of the irritability I feel when I fast. I think about the love I have for my children. I think about how small my fasting irritation would be in comparison to the desperation and unfocused wrath I would feel if extreme hunger were coupled with watching my beloved starve. I think I might be out burning tires as well and (if I thought I could get away with it to feed my children)...looting. Not the most moral admission, but an honest one.

France said that it would double it's food aid to Somalia. I don't know what that amount would be, but it is a call for all of "developed nations" to live up to our Millennium Development Goal commitments. We said we would help and we didn't. And now there are people dying in the streets over rice. It won't be fast enough to help the people in Somalia in the short term, but passage of the Global Poverty Act is critical...not only to get our ball rolling in providing more and better poverty-focused development assistance, but to tell the rest of the world we give a damn about people besides ourselves.

NY Times: "Across Globe, Empty Bellies Bring Rising Anger'

The April 18 New York Times ran an article about the increasing food riots across the globe. These clashes are becoming more an more common as people on the edge are feeling desperation and anger. All of these stories are illustrating how extreme poverty alleviation is not only a matter of morality, charity, social justice or national security, but all of those things together.

Here are excerpts:

"Saint Louis Meriska’s children ate two spoonfuls of rice apiece as their only meal recently and then went without any food the following day. His eyes downcast, his own stomach empty, the unemployed father said forlornly, “They look at me and say, ‘Papa, I’m hungry,’ and I have to look away. It’s humiliating and it makes you angry. That anger is palpable across the globe. The food crisis is not only being felt among the poor but is also eroding the gains of the working and middle classes, sowing volatile levels of discontent and putting new pressures on fragile governments."

“Why are these riots happening?” asked Arif Husain, senior food security analyst at the World Food Program, which has issued urgent appeals for donations. “The human instinct is to survive, and people are going to do no matter what to survive. And if you’re hungry you get angry quicker.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/world/americas/18food.htmlx=1209614400&en=fad837a1acd76314&ei=5070&emc=eta1

When a nursing mother can eat only mud

I have a confession. For almost a year, I've immersed myself in readings about extreme poverty and theories of how to combat it. I've written a lot of my own, too. I confess...I am becoming somewhat desensitized to the hardship. Sometimes, as an advocate, I find myself skimming past the already familiar stories and statistics looking for material to respond to and use to raise awareness effectively. But this story I saw on breadblog.org stopped me in my tracks. I write today with tears in my eyes.

We know that millions are living on less than $1 a day. We know that worldwide food prices are rising. We know that people already on the edge will bear the brunt of food shortage. And we know many will not survive. But what will happen when they try to survive? How will mothers try to feed their children when there is nothing to eat?

They will eat mud.

In Haiti, the very poor are resorting to mud pies to fill their stomachs with whatever they can. The mud is rich in calcium and has been known to be consumed for its properties as an antacid. But a 16 yr old mother with a 1 month old son is eating mud as a regular meal several times a day despite the stomach pains it gives her. It's a desperate act and a direct result of rising food prices and food shortages.

Here you can see the msnbc story about this horrendous phenomenon.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22902512/

And now that you know, you can take action. You can contact your senators and urge them to pass the Global Poverty Act (S 2433) which will make achieving the first Millennium Development Goal (reducing extreme poverty in half by 2015) a matter of US foreign policy. Make your voice heard and tell your elected officials that it is unacceptable that our brothers and sisters are literally eating dirt while we feast.

Farm Bill proposal makes CUTS to nutrition title! WHAT!!??!!

Dammit!

I'm usually not this informal and I know this is lowering the reading level of my blog, but I'm rather apoplectic about this. Despite a recent letter writing campaign which resulted in 28 senators and 153 reps signing a dear colleague letter to include permanent funding for Food Stamps and other nutrition title programs which help Americans at risk for hunger for AT LEAST the House approved levels...the Ag committee proposed a Farm Bill that CUTS those programs. All this before the House conferees are even announced!

F!

I just can't continue....here, read on....
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New Farm Bill Proposal Cuts Nutrition Programs

Washington, DC, February 13, 2008 – Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, issued the following statement today in response to a new proposal sent to the Senate by Representatives Collin Peterson, chairman, and Bob Goodlatte, ranking member, of the House of Representative’s Agriculture Committee:

“House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson and Ranking Member Bob Goodlatte today sent the first proposal to the Senate in order to move the Farm Bill forward. Their outline proposes changes in the commodity title to pay for needs in other parts of the Farm Bill. Yet, significant cuts were made to the nutrition title which provides funding for the Food Stamp Program—our first line of defense against hunger.

“The proposal significantly cuts back the $11.5 billion increase for nutrition programs over ten years passed by the full House in July 2007.

“More than a third of House members recently signed a letter declaring that a final Farm Bill that ‘under-funds improvements in the nutrition title would be unacceptable’ and urges the conference report to ‘include permanent funding at no less than the House-passed levels.’ We couldn’t agree more.

“The final Farm Bill must provide a safety net for people who have the most to lose. Tens of millions of Americans, many of them children and working families, are at risk of hunger every day. Congress cannot compromise the safety net for them.”

Half the Sky needs immediate help! (Snow/ice disaster in China)

OK, usually you will see me writing about public policy and poverty, but there is a crisis going on right now that is very close to my heart, so I will put out an appeal. Extreme weather conditions in China have affected millions of people as travel, phone and power have been interrupted during a time of heavy snow and ice. As usual, the poorest segment of the population is suffering the most as food and supplies are causing lack of food, drinking water, fuel, etc. And as usual, orphaned children are among the most vulnerable people. The facilities of Half the Sky (the amazing organization that cares for thousands of China's orphaned children) are in danger.

Please consider going to

www.halfthesky.org

to donate to the "Little Mouse Emergency Fund" set up to assist with this terrible disaster. Here now are
some words from Jenny Bowen, executive director of Half the Sky:

"Welfare institutions in south and central China are having the hardest time dealing with the weather disaster. This part of the country is simply not equipped to deal with extreme cold or heavy snow and ice. The most common critical problems are power outages, lack of safe drinking and cooking water, lack of fuel, diapers and public transportation. In many places where buses have stopped running, our Half the Sky nannies have been walking hours (in one case, 4 hours) along icy roads to get to the children. As conditions worsen, our nannies and teachers are remaining at the institutions day and night. They have given up the idea of going home to their own families for the holidays. They need quilts. They need warm clothing. They need coal, water, disposable diapers and food.

Latest reports tell us that this weather is likely to continue for another 10 days.

Because local governments are overwhelmed by the situation, it seems that there is, in many places, no relief beyond what we can provide. We have not been able to find news of any international relief organizations working on the ground although the China Red Cross is apparently providingsome meals to stranded motorists.

As it is impossible to get new supplies of goods to the markets, costs of basic necessities are doubling, even tripling in some cases. We are now working with the Ministry of Civil Affairs (which has the responsibility of dealing with natural disasters nation-wide) to determine which institutions outside the HTS community need our help as well. We will continue funding the costs of basic goods until the money runs out.

We can’t ship the necessary diapers, blankets, clothing, food ourselves. There is no transport that can get through right now. We will continue working to find a way. In the meantime, we are wiring funds where banks remain open. Where banks are closed, we are guaranteeing reimbursement to any citizen who funds thepurchase of needed goods for the children.

We’ve now placed a special “Little Mouse” button on our home page which will take you right to the
fund page or you can get there by clicking http://give.halfthesky.org/prostores/servlet/Categoriescategory=Little+Mouse+Emergency+Fund
Donations are tax-deductible in US, Canada and Hong Kong."

Food donations down nationwide: video

If you didn't see the feature on the Jim Lehrer news hour, please check it out! It features many Chicago hunger-fighting organizations, including the Greater Chicago Food Depository, to help illustrate a nation-wide problem. Kate Maehr, the executive director of GCFD,is one of those interviewed on the subject to explain the reasons for a general decline in donations, which include:inflation, fewer damaged packaging donations, fewer bonus commodities from the government, and others.

You can find it here with a summary of the piece at:

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Food_banks_face_critical_shortage_over_1221.html

Farm Bill passed in Senate 12/14

From Bread for the World:
Yesterday, the Senate passed its version of the farm bill by a vote of 79-14. Although the bill makes improvements in the nutrition programs, the funding for those measures is temporary. Trade-distorting commodity payments were protected, despite the fact that two reform amendments received majority votes.

Statement by Rev. David Beckmann, President of Bread for the World:

"I am outraged that two amendments that would have cut payments to the wealthiest farmers in this country passed with majority votes, but were shut down by backroom shenanigans by Senate leadership. Senators who voted against these amendments did not just vote to protect wealthy special interests, they voted against helping working families who struggle to put food on the table.

Voters-and especially many Christians-are ahead of the politicians on this issue. The abuses in the farm bill have been exposed, and this issue will not just be swept under the rug.

It's the most wonderful time of the year for the farm lobby. When is Christmas going to come for hungry and poor people?

My prayer is that the president, Republican and Democratic congressional leadership can come together to improve this bill in conference. At the very least, they must find a way to make the funding improvements in the nutrition programs secure and permanent. But, they can solve that problem and many others by cutting funding to direct payments."

Voting record for Dorgan-Grassely Amendment to the Farm Bill

Here's the nitty gritty on how the senators each voted on the Dorgan-Grassley amendment.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00424

Obama, Clinton, Biden, and Dodd were all present and voted for it. McCain did not vote.

As an interesting and disappointing note, there were four senators that had voted for this amendment both in 2002 and in 2005 that voted "nay" today. Senators Kent Conrad (D-ND), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and George Voinovich (R-OH) all switched their votes this year. If these four senators had stayed consistent with their voting record, it would have passed. Boo.

Dorgan-Grassely fails in Senate

From the Center for Rural Affairs:
"The Dorgan-Grassley amendment lost and will not be part of the 2007 Farm Bill. 56 yes, 43 no. 60 votes were needed to win. We'll post the individual votes in an hour or two when they are put on the Senate website."

FRESH Amendment failed 37-58 in Senate

The first amendment to be voted on was the FRESH amendment (aka Luger-Lautenberg). It failed 37-58. This is the one that would have completely overhauled farm subsidies. Similar to the Ron Kind amendment in the House, which was a famous non-success. This one was not actually expected to pass as it might have been the most radical one. Bread for the World folks say they are happy that they got as high as 37 votes. So, that would be the good news in this. I am irritated to report that Biden, Clinton, Obama, Dodd and McCain were not voting. Could it be they were all stuck on the same plane back from Iowa? Sadly, I doubt it.

To see how everyone voted: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00417

There is still more action packed Farm Bill excitement to come, so don't get totally discouraged yet.

Some choice words from Senator Dorgan

The Farm Bill looked like it was moving forward and then they could not agree on what ammendments to vote on...AGAIN! It is quite possible that the 2007 Farm Bill will be passed in 2008.

Senator Dorgan speaking of the lack of progress in the Senate: "If family farmers farmed like legislators legislate, there would be no food."

And then Senator Dorgan a few minutes later, "You could compare the United States Senate to a glacier, but the difference is that a glacier actually moves from time to time."

LA Times Farm Bill update

Couldn't have said it better myself...Actually, I tried and couldn't....
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Pelosi's bad farm bill
The House's new farm package did nothing to uproot harmful subsidies, so it's up to the Senate to dig in.
July 31, 2007

If the farm bill that oozed through the House of Representatives last week is Speaker Nancy Pelosi's idea of accomplishing Democrats' goals, we prefer the good old days of do-nothing Congresses. Pelosi, whose San Francisco district is a center of opposition to traditional farm subsidies, hammered together a broad coalition of Democrats aiming to preservethe status quo for another five years.

Democratic leaders did it by playing Santa Claus. To representatives from California and other states that don't grow the types of crops that traditionally get federal handouts, they doled out $1.6 billion for specialty crops such as vegetables and nuts. To the Congressional Black Caucus, they handed at least $100 million to help settle discrimination lawsuits by minority farmers. To urban liberals, they gave a needed expansion of the food stamp program. And to Democrats in farm states, they presented a bill that keeps in place all of the trade-distorting subsidies that made the 2002 farm bill a shameful violation of international agreements.

To pay for all this, the bill would impose a new tax on U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies. That drew the ire of Republicans who might otherwise have supported it and assured that the bill would pass on a mostly party-line vote. It also produced a veto threat from President Bush.

The added benefits for food stamp recipients and improved nutrition programs are worthwhile, but an obscure new tax that might violate international treaties is the wrong way to pay for them. Instead, the House should have phased out the price supports and loan guarantees that artificially inflate food prices in this country and make it nearly impossible for growers in poor countries to compete. So badly managed are the farm bill's subsidy programs that a Government Accountability Office investigation turned up $1.1 billion paid out over seven years to dead people.

There are three ways to undo the damage Pelosi and company have wrought. First, the Senate could craft a more sensible farm bill when it takes up the matter in September. Second, Bush could make good on his veto threat. And third, Canada and Brazil could win their cases at the World Trade Organization challenging some U.S. farm supports. Because options two and three would only confuse the issue, the best hope for real reform lies with the Senate.

Farm Bill News FAQ: "what happened?" "what's with the Dems?" "Is it over?"

In the interest of timeliness, I previously copied a few detailed articles I found that summed up farm bill news. But I've had a few very good questions that I'll try to answer concisely.

"So...what happened exactly? Did our call-ins work?"
Yes and no. The bad news is that the farm subsidy program is largely unchanged. Under this Farm Bill version, large farms will continue to get most of the subsidies while farmers of modest means will continue to struggle. Developing countries will be locked out of selling their products. The WTO may sue us over cotton subsidies. So, that didn't work. But the good news is that to get that passed, the Status Quo reps had to sweeten the pot for the on-the-fencer's by giving more food stamp assistance, nutrition stuff, rural development and conservation programs. So, that part did work. The bummer is that those nice things might not actually get funded. If the subsidy part had been cut more, the money could have come from there.

"I don't understand why so many Democrats voted against the reform amendment and for the Farm Bill. What do you think?"
Dems are having a really hard time keeping together on this one. They're trying to hold their majority and show they can run Congress effectively. A powerful "farm bloc" feels strongly about keeping subsidies high although it flies in the face of what democrats stand for. These reps are backed by large farms that eat up most of the subsidy payments and they don't want to lose support. Rep Zack Space from Ohio is an example. He's a freshman Dem rep, outspoken in saying things like "my constituents are pretty comfortable with things the way they are." Meaning: those with clout to get him replaced with a Republlican are happy with fat subsidies. Poor constituents with no influence are probably not happy at all. I've also heard some Dem reps personally receive those subsidies. A legal conflict of interest?

"Why are Republicans against the Farm Bill?"
In order to pay for the last minute adds, a tax on foreign countries- that can be used as tax havens for US subsidiaries- was put in that has the GOP against the bill. Republicans cite this as a partisan move to add taxes to what was a bipartisan bill.

"Is it over?"
Oh no. Things aren't looking great, but this thing is far from over. The White House threatened to veto if significant subsidy caps aren't in place. Bush can still do this. And the Senate debate is just beginning. The House and Senate must pass their own versions of the bill, then Congress has to reconcile the two for the final bill. Now it's more important than ever to write/call your senators about this. And if your senator is running for president, try extra hard to catch their attention. Like writing a letter to the editor with their name in it. Their printed name gets them looking more than anything!

Details on Passed Farm Bill in House

Here are more details about what finally passed in the House. The article discusses the added good stuff as well as the failed subsidy reform.
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House Passes Massive Farm Bill
Tax Issue Prompts GOP Opposition
Washington Post Saturday, July 28, 2007; A01

The House yesterday passed a far-reaching new farm bill that preserves the existing system of subsidies for commercial farmers and adds billions of dollars for conservation, nutrition and new agricultural sectors.

Passage of the 741-page bill by a vote of 231 to 191, after partisan battling unusual for farm legislation, was a major achievement for the new Democratic leadership.

With most Republicans opposing the five-year bill over a tax issue, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) hammered out a compromise that held together a shaky majority of Democratic farm-state lawmakers committed to the entrenched farm subsidy system, together with urban liberals and reformers seeking sweeping changes.

"This signals change and a new direction," said Pelosi, in calling for the party to stick together on the contentious vote.

The bill, which has a price tag of almost $286 billion, boosts spending on preservation of grasslands and wildlife habitat, and mandates a major study of the Chesapeake Bay watershed as a first step to restoring the bay by reducing agricultural and other wastes.

The measure updates the food stamp program, indexing benefits to inflation, increasing the minimum benefit and raising the standard deduction. Youth obesity is addressed by a program to introduce healthful snacks in schools, and more money is authorized for famine relief abroad.

In an important victory for consumer organizations, imported meat, including hamburger made from multiple animals, will be labeled by its country of origin starting in October 2008.

Pelosi also cited the bill's emphasis on credits and loan guarantees for new forms of biofuel produced from grasses and biomass. "Future farm bills will never look the same," she said.

Nonetheless, major hurdles remain before the massive legislation becomes law.

The White House, citing insufficient reforms of the subsidy system, has threatened a veto. Only 19 House Republicans supported the bill's passage because of the last-minute addition of a tax provision needed to offset the new Democratic-backed spending on food stamps and nutrition.

Rep. Robert W. Goodlatte (Va.), the ranking Republican on the House Agriculture Committee, accused Democrats of "poisoning the well" by adding the tax provision to what had been a bipartisan farm bill. Business lobbies, including the National Association of Manufacturers, warned that the action could discourage foreign investment and cost jobs.

Democrats said the provision merely closes a loophole that allows a limited number of U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies to avoid taxes. Aides said it is aimed at companies headquartered in tax havens such as Bermuda, with which the United States has no tax treaty. Subsidiaries avoid a tax bite by funneling earnings through European countries that have reciprocal tax-reduction arrangements with the United States.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex.), a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, said the provision levels the playing field for "small American companies that are paying their share of taxes."

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin C. Peterson (D-Minn.) charged that Republicans had fixed on the tax issue as an excuse for killing the bill. "They don't want to see success," he said.

But Democrats acknowledged that the entanglement of business issues in the farm bill could cause problems down the line.

Last week, a coalition of business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Business Roundtable, urged Congress to reject a farm bill that did not make major cuts in agricultural subsidies, so as to expedite a global trade deal benefiting manufacturers.

Developing countries are demanding a reduction in U.S. and European agricultural protections before opening their markets to American manufactured items.

Peterson responded hotly yesterday, saying farm-state lawmakers were in no mood to appease big business. Previous trade deals, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), have been tailored mainly to help manufacturers and have not been good for U.S. agriculture, he said.

In defiance of international trade rules that discourage price supports that lead to overproduction, the bill raises price guarantees for wheat, soybeans and sugar.

Pressures on Congress could increase after a ruling this week by the World Trade Organization in Geneva. A WTO panel held that the U.S. cotton industry has not adequately responded to a 2005 ruling that certain subsidies violate international trade agreements. The panel said Brazil has the right to retaliate.

The centerpiece of the bill is a web of price guarantees and direct payments going mainly to corn, wheat, cotton, rice and soybean growers in a few Midwestern and Southern states. The cost to taxpayers will be about $7.5 billion a year.

Farm organizations pulled out all the stops to defend this system, hiring lobbyists, setting up blogs attacking critics and buttonholing farm-state lawmakers. Among the lobbyists was the former chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Larry Combest (R-Tex.).

The House bill includes a new concession for cane and beet sugar producers, ensuring that they will not have to cut back on their planting when unrestricted Mexican sugar imports start next year under NAFTA. The Department of Agriculture will be required to buy up volumes of sugar comparable to the imports and sell it to ethanol plants for a reduced price, at a 10-year cost to taxpayers of $1.4 billion.

In the last-minute jostling, a provision to make leaf tobacco farmers eligible for funds to promote their product abroad was stripped to avoid a floor battle with anti-tobacco forces. Rep. Bobby R. Etheridge (D-N.C.) had argued that it was a "matter of patent fairness" to tobacco growers.

Farm-state lawmakers also united yesterday to defeat an amendment by Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) aimed at preventing farmers from reaping unintended windfalls from a key subsidy, the loan deficiency payment. In 2005, the subsidy cost nearly $5 billion.

Late Thursday, an amendment by Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.) to reform the subsidy system garnered only 117 votes. Kind was backed by consumer, environmental, religious and anti-hunger groups.

The defection of Republicans this week forced Democratic leaders to scramble to strike deals with urban liberals to assure the final majority.

In the maneuvering, the Congressional Black Caucus came away with at least $100 million to help the USDA settle discrimination lawsuits filed by minority farmers. But the dealmaking forced a hasty search for offsetting funds.

To help pay for mandatory new spending on food for children abroad, Democratic leaders imposed a new "conservation fee" on some offshore oil and gas leases. It would recoup billions of dollars in royalties lost because of faulty federal leases with companies operating in deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Farm Bill Reform failed in house today

From today's Washington Post. Not looking good. Hard to believe that it's now looking more likely to have a veto from Bush than for Democrats to unite and help hungry people. Now the fight is on and it's likely to spill into the Senate soon.
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House Rejects Farm Bill Overhaul
Effort to Revamp Traditional Subsidies Is Defeated, 309 to 117

Farm state lawmakers, allied with House Democratic leaders, last night easily defeated a proposal for a major overhaul of traditional farm programs that would have pared subsidies to big growers and spread benefits more broadly.

The 309 to 117 vote came on the first day of debate on a multiyear farm bill that was heading for final action today.

Republican support for the bill was in doubt last night because of a dispute over a provision that would tighten rules on the use of tax havens by U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies.

But key farm state Republicans joined Democrats in opposing the amendment, sponsored by Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.). "It rips out the safety net for American farmers and ranchers," said Rep. Robert W. Goodlatte (Va.), ranking Republican on the House Agriculture Committee.

The amendment was billed as this year's major challenge to an entrenched farm-subsidy system. The defeat was a setback for a coalition of environmental organizations, anti-hunger groups and religious leaders who favor shifting more funds to conservation, nutrition and other priorities while creating a more level playing field in world markets for unsubsidized poor farmers abroad.

"Change is tough in this place," Kind said. The current subsidies to farmers, he said, raise farmland prices to the disadvantage of young farmers trying to rent or buy land, while making big farmers dependent on "a government paycheck, not the marketplace."

Environmental Defense, an advocacy group, produced a study showing that more than 300 congressional districts would be eligible for increased funding under Kind's bill, but to no avail.

Kind's vision in recent months came into conflict with the pragmatic politics of Democratic leaders seeking to rebuild the party's rural-urban bonds. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) urged Democrats to support the farm bill.

Recalling that a similar Kind amendment garnered 200 votes in 2001, the Agriculture Committee loaded the bill with billions of dollars for nutrition programs, conservation, black farmers, and the Florida and California fruit and vegetable industries, in an effort to attract broad support. As late as 1 a.m. yesterday, Democratic leaders were adding money for nutrition programs.

About $840 million in mandatory spending was added for the McGovern-Dole food aid program, after nearly $1 billion was shifted out of government payments to private crop insurance companies to offset the cost.

The new funding was sought by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), a key member of the House Rules Committee. McGovern said it was "a good thing" that the crop insurance industry would be contributing to feeding hungry children abroad.

The program is named for two former senators, not for the congressman.

The revamp effort by Kind, whose western Wisconsin farm grows corn and soybeans on 60 acres, made him few friends on the agriculture panel.

Committee Chairman Collin C. Peterson (D-Minn.) said last week that Kind and his allies are "out on a limb, and I'm trying to cut if off."

Peterson suggested that Kind "was being used by the Bush administration," which favors some of the same changes.

"There was no collusion," Kind responded. "I've been working on this for six years."

Farm Bill Vote in House THIS WEEK

The Washington Post reported that the not-very-reformed-at-all version of the Farm Bill was approved last Thursday and the full House is expected to vote on it next week.

Bread for the World president David Beckmann said, "Neither of the two bills presented by Chairman Peterson shows marked improvement for farmers of modest means or for the millions of hungry and poor families in this country and around the world.

As usual, people who need help the most are at the bottom of the priority list. Without a guaranteed source of funding for federal nutrition programs, the 'reform' option is no more than a wish list."

The farm bill is expected to go to the House floor before the August recess, perhaps as early as July 24. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, has said that his committee will also take up the farm bill in July. So your members of Congress – whether or not they sit on an agriculture committee – need to hear now from their constituents that the version of the farm bill which comes to the House and Senate floors must contain improvements.

To take action, please see the web site http://www.bread.org/take-action/take-action-seeds-of-change.html for information on how to call your members of Congress. If you choose to write a letter, faxing is a better option due to time constraint!