On the one hand, you have some bipartisan senators from farm states who understand how important this farm bill is to their constituents, and have no time or patience for moronic games and unreasonable amendments. On the other hand, you have opportunistic sleazebag Senators who relish the unreasonable amendments that would cause the bill to either fail or else take “10 years worth of temporary extensions that no one likes”. You know, the option that our upper chamber loves so much. Colorless, featureless, Self-Certified Board Ophthalmologist Kentucky Medical Doctor, Rand “Ann” Paul is one of those going with the dumb game/time wasting/unreasonable amendment option. The pantsless prick is using this debate to release more self-righteous, stupid ideological diarrhea.
As of now the bill would cut $4 billion over ten years from SNAP by targeting “FRAUD.” Because the problem here is that food-stamps allow poor people to not be totally miserable and desperate at all times, as they should be under Libertarian doctrine. Ann Paul’s amendment – which was killed – would have targeted food stamp “FRAUD” by… ending the program entirely and sending a a tiny pittance to the states, who could use it to throw a ha’penny at the hobos at Christmastime (or, more likely, to fill the budget holes in their coffers or offer corporate tax breaks, because no one’s accountable for shit anymore.) Karma’s a bitch, Ann. Take food out of the mouths of poor children and 20 years later your eyebrows fall off.
John McCain’s farm bill amendment “would require the administration to report by August on the full effects of the $500 billion in automatic defense cuts slated to take effect starting next year.”
Jim DeMint’s farm bill amendment “would repeal the Dodd-Frank financial reform law.”
Tom Coburn’s farm bill amendment says that “the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Market Access Program, heavily used by the San Francisco-based Wine Institute and other California farm organizations promoting overseas sales, couldn’t pay for ‘wine tastings’ or ‘reality TV shows.’”
Rand Paul’s farm bill amendment “would cut off aid to Pakistan.”
Rand Paul’s farm bill amendment “keeps the Depart of Agriculture from carrying firearms in rural areas.”
Rand Paul’s farm bill amendment “repeals the federal food stamp program” and replaces it with small block grants to the states, which the states can then replace with large tax cuts”. Ann is also very concerned about the hugely important matter of those EPA Death Drones that swoop over farms, spying on farmers and their families and their livestock. *
If you don’t want a program to exist, holler FRAUD! But keep insisting that you don’t hate the poor people that you do hate. Voter “FRAUD”, Medicare ” FRAUD”, Food stamp “FRAUD”. Hey, Ann, how about having your family members getting six figure incomes for working on your political campaigns in seats you can’t lose? Sound like FRAUD to me. Or as you call it, “keepin’ with your Randian limited government principles”. And you know that fraud is only a problem in government programs. Private sector fraud is just a cost of doing business. Scamming yourself some food stamps, however, is an existential threat to Liberty. By gum, we really do need to do something about Capital Gains Tax deduction fraud.
Ann Paul is just the kind of person who crawls out of the ooze when politics starts to lose control of people, when reality becomes so overwhelmingly, untenably miserable the system can not contain it any longer. Then the crackpots show up on the right, and the libertarian-right, and the imaginary “center,” to lead us even further into the mire . “Ignore your own senses,” should be their Apostles’ Creed. Rand-Ann is living breathing little proof that Libertarians are just authoritarians who expect they’ve already inherited earned a spot in the imperial court.
Step off, Ann. Not all of us are rich because our dads formed a cult to constantly rip off.
* surveillance aircraft that monitor pollution discharged into waterways from toxic “manure lagoons” at large livestock operations that violate environmental regulations and kill everyone and everyone’s children. But, we understand that it is a slippery slope from here to getting arrested for taking the dog to poop in the asshole neighbor’s yard, so enjoy your shit water, ranchers.