The slipshod, slapdash way Congress throws together legislation reared its ugly head once again on Friday, as it was necessary to pass the Farm Bill again and for President Bush to veto it again, all because they left out 32 PAGES in the initial passage. This gross incompetence and lack of attention to duty and detail is very costly to taxpayers, and keeps Congress from considering really important legislation, like athorizing more drilling for oil.
What was deleted was the foreign trade provisions for agricultural commodities, with the potential to grind all world ag trade negotiations to a halt. The bloated, massively expensive and expansive Farm Bill is a travesty and election year Christmas Tree, with goodies for all the special interests. It is at least $10 billion over budget, and President Bush was thoroughly justified in vetoing it.
Special interest campaign funds were at stake for Congressmen and Senators, with their eyes more on the November election than on the public interest. Campaign funds won out, as a disturbing number of Republicans voted to override Bush's veto, rather than support their party's president.
The Farm Bill is a massive shrine to arrogance and log rolling, and should be an embarassment for concientous legislators, but it's not. As with Obama dropping his pledge to accept federal funds for his campaign, in the face of record lucre, honor and consistency are cheap in Washington, and the Farm Bill showed it.
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