-Caveat Lector- ------- Forwarded message follows ------- Subject: Little caps for little people, big caps for Corporate Supercitizens Date sent: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 12:21:33 -0700 There are caps on the value of pain, suffering, or your life if you sue your HMO for breaking your insurance contract. There are no caps if your HMO sues you. There are caps upon welfare for the poor. There are no caps on welfare for megacorporations---the 33 billion subsidy recently awared our domestic oil and coal cartel---and that largesse extends to make megafarms bigger, more profitable and better able to gobble up their small-farm neighbors. Thank you, George. Aug 18, 2001 WEEKLY FARM: Corporate Farms, State Agencies Among Big Recipients of Bailout Package By Philip Brasher The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - When President Bush signed into a law a $5.5 billion farm bailout package, he said it was for "farm families" that "represent the best of America." He probably did not have the Montana state government in mind, but it is one of the biggest recipients of the money. He probably was not thinking of the University of Illinois, another large recipient, or of Tyler Farms, an Arkansas-based partnership that controls 40,000 acres, an area nearly as big as the District of Columbia. Tyler Farms is getting about $1.7 million, more than other single recipient, according to an analysis by the Environmental Working Group. The environmental watchdog organization maintains an extensive database of Agriculture Department records. Montana's Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, which receives federal subsidies on state-owned cropland, will get the third largest amount, $906,965. Tyler Farms has received nearly $24 million in various farm subsidies over the past five years, including nearly $5 million in special payments such as those being made this year to compensate farmers for low crop prices, the group says. "It's not like a welfare check," said Tyler Farms executive Phillip Ring. "It goes into this big pot of money that determines whether Tyler Farms is profitable." The University of Illinois should collect about $126,000 for its farm interests. Between 1996 and 2000, the university got nearly $1.8 million in federal farm subsidies. The supplemental assistance goes to the same farmers who receive fixed annual payments from the government under a program Congress created in 1996. The supplemental payments are limited to $34,000 per individual recipient, but that does not apply to institutional landowners and certain partnerships. Critics say big farms are hogging too much of federal subsidies, and using the money to expand their operations to the detriment of neighbors. One percent of the 1.4 million recipients will get 15 percent of the payments, or about $52,000 each, according to the Environmental Working Group analysis. The top 20 percent will get 79 percent of the money. "It's just more of the same," said Kenneth Cook, the group's president. "We should get the money to people who need it." Bruce Babcock, an Iowa State University economist, says large grain and cotton farms now rely on government subsidies for their survival. "Most small farmers have off-farm income and they're not as dependent on it. ... It's the big farmers, crop farmers, that have developed a culture of dependency." Defenders of the subsidy system say that restricting payments penalizes efficient producers and discourages the streamlining and consolidation that produced operations like Tyler Farms. "We're not the enemy, we're just aggressive farmers," said Leland Olson, who farms 3,800 acres with his son near Marathon, Iowa. He should get a supplemental payment of $34,000. He received $475,000 in subsidies from 1996-2000, according to the analysis. The latest check "will put a smile on my face," he said. But he added, "We weren't going to close our door" without it. Arkansas farmer Larry Joe Burns, who together with his wife should qualify for $68,000, says he has to rent more land each year to cover expenses. He has expanded at a rate of about 10 percent a year and now farms about 3,000 acres. "You just have fewer and fewer large operators that have to expand because the margin is so small on each unit," Burns said. "You lose good farmers that want to stay on the land but they can't afford to farm." Montana's farm subsidies are funneled to the state's schools. "Commodity prices are low. We do welcome those payments to help us help the schools," said Kevin Chappell, who oversees the state's farm and ranch land. Farmers will get the checks at a time when the nation's agriculture economy appears to be on the rebound. The new aid will push net farm income to $50.4 billion, the highest level since 1996 and nearly 10 percent above last year. Much of the growth is due to strong prices for cattle, hogs and milk, but prices for major crops such as corn, soybeans and wheat also are edging up. The aid package includes the $4.6 billion in market-loss payments going to grain and cotton growers, plus additional assistance for other crops, including soybeans, sunflowers, tobacco, peanuts, fruits and vegetables. --- On the Net: Agriculture Department: http://www.usda.gov Environmental Working Group: http://www.ewg.org AP-ES-08-18-01 1149EDT This story can be found at : http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA8PRMKJQC.html ------- End of forwarded message ------- -- Best wishes In my opinion the main evil of the present democratic institutions of the United States does not arise, as is often asserted in Europe, from their weakness, but from their overpowering strength; and I am not so much alarmed at the excessive liberty which reigns in that country as at the very inadequate securities which exist against tyranny. - Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Vol.1 <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. 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