Letter - Farmers don’t need help

Dear Editor,

The world’s a crazy place. The UN assigned Iran to one of the positions hammering out an arms treaty. They also put China on the Human Rights commission. Isn’t that a little like asking the government to tighten government’s belt?

The farm bill is $72,000,000,000. A proposed cut of 2.2 percent has been called “Draconian” by both Republicans and Democrats. These are predictable outcries from legislators in a farm state. Want to promote bipartisanism? Try to cut a program whose benefits are regional.

I know I will get stink-eye from my farmer neighbors but it doesn’t change the truth. Should we have $72 billion in tax dollars propping up an industry capable of standing on its own? Ya, they are at the mercy of the weather. So are the snowmobile industry, snowplow drivers, and vacation destinations just to name a few. Just ask Duluth’s tourist industry. Can we afford to bail out what the free market should level out?

This bill includes SNAP or EBT, formerly food stamps. There are more people on food stamps than ever in our history, whether it’s calculated as a percentage of the population or raw numbers. Yet every month when the “jobs” numbers are published we’re told the trajectory is positive. How can that be?

Twenty-three percent of Washington D.C.’s population is on food stamps. Today any stigma associated with government handouts is gone. Not that there should be shame but neither should it be a source of contentment. As a voting bloc “the poor” financially and in spirit are bought and sold forever to be poor. Class envy is the new mantra and America the victim.

The world’s a crazy place. I am praying for hope and change and it’s exactly the opposite of what those words meant just four years ago. Yes, we can.

Tom Winkler, Prescott

Tags: opinion, letters, government