Category: Agriculture

15
votes

Hello There, We should be using Industrial Hemp a part of our nations energy policy. I want to know when the Industrial Hemp Act H.R. 1009 that seems to be held up in the House Committee on the Judiciary; be voted on and what are the presidential candidates position on this issue. http://industrialhempthebilliondollarcrop.blogspot.com/ More

Asked 4 weeks 6 days ago of All U.S. Congress
by William Hill from Chesterfield, VA

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15
votes

Hello There, We should be using Industrial Hemp a part of our nations energy policy. I want to know when the Industrial Hemp Act H.R. 1009 that seems to be held up in the House Committee on the Judiciary; be voted on and what are the presidential candidates position on this issue. http://industrialhempthebilliondollarcrop.blogspot.com/ More

Asked 4 weeks 6 days ago of All U.S. Congress
by William Hill from Chesterfield, VA

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22
votes

Why are the Democrats protecting billions of dollars for big farm subsidies when that sector of the economy is booming and not using the farm bill to as an opportunity for reform? More

Asked 30 weeks 5 days ago of U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
by Alice Bartholomew from Fairfax, CA

Answered

Can you explain the reasoning for the latest farm bill? It seems like 1.5 Million is too much income to receive subsidies. Is this just politics as usual or is there a solid reason that can't be explained in a sound bite? Is so, point me to a web page.
Asked by: Peter Meyer from Vienna, VA. Received 16 Votes.
Categories: Agriculture. Tags: farm subsidies.

Listen to: U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX)

Actually 1.5 million is too much to be receiving farm subsidies. The difference is it was 2.5 million and now it’s down to 1.5 million. And that’s for a couple but $750,000 per individual. I would liked to have seen a huge drop below that but what you find out around here is if you can get big incremental moves like a third lower than that’s heading the right direction and you better grab a one third incremental move in the right direction and keep pushing to get better.

Answered on Aug 7th, 2008 More
Can you explain the reasoning for the latest farm bill? It seems like 1.5 Million is too much income to receive subsidies. Is this just politics as usual or is there a solid reason that can't be explained in a sound bite? Is so, point me to a web page.
Asked by: Peter Meyer from Vienna, VA. Received 16 Votes.
Categories: Agriculture. Tags: farm subsidies.

Listen to: U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC)

Mr. Meyer, I voted against the farm bill because I could not see any rationale for the farm bill. I was very upset that we are continuing to pay subsidies to people who make $1.5 million. There’s a lot that’s wrong with the current farm bill. I voted against it. I was one of only three members of the agriculture committee to vote against it. So I don’t think it was a good bill for the United States or for the average citizen. It’s a good bill for a lot of special interests groups but not good for this country.

Answered on Aug 7th, 2008 More
Can you confirm that U.S. policy in Iraq prohibits Iraqi farmers from replanting their traditional seeds in lieu of patented seeds from the west? In fact making saving seeds illegal. If so, do you think this is good policy, and why?
Asked by: Kurt Christensen from Westminster, MD. Received 29 Votes.
Categories: Agriculture · Civil Liberties · Environment · Foreign Policy · Iraq · President Bush · Regulation · Rural · Technology. Tags: biodiversity · genetically modified organisms · intellectual property.

Listen to: U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO)

They produce a lot of potatoes over there, I know that. There is very little their soil is actually conducive for agriculture. They do have some irrigated ground down in the south around Basra but, you know, most of that was drained or flooded by Saddam Hussein. I don’t know if they’ve ever gotten that infrastructure back yet. Not a whole lot of agriculture takes place in Iraq. There’s a lot of desert there, so they don’t have the water infrastructure either, is the problem. I mean I couldn’t…I’m just not sure.

Answered on Jun 19th, 2008 More
When will the federal government begin to get honest with the American people about the issue of peak oil?
Asked by: goat from Brooklyn, NY. Received 33 Votes.
Categories: Agriculture · Campaign 2008 · Economy · Energy · Environment · Ethics · Foreign Policy · Technology. Tags: energy crises · peak oil.

Listen to: U.S. Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE)

The discussion about whether we hit peak oil I think drives some of the discussion about whether or how quickly we move away from oil as the major use of our energy. It’s kind of like global warming was a few years ago. People talk about peak oil, but there’s no evidence that we’ve hit peak oil, some people think it’s right now. So it’s part of their discussions.

Answered on Apr 23rd, 2008 More
Why are the Democrats protecting billions of dollars for big farm subsidies when that sector of the economy is booming and not using the farm bill to as an opportunity for reform?
Asked by: Alice Bartholomew from Fairfax, CA. Received 1 Vote.
Categories: Agriculture. Tags: special interests.

Listen to: U.S. Rep. Zack Space (D-OH)

These are not giveaways. This is an effort to keep in business a long standing tradition in this country of family farms. We get the safest most abundant cheapest food source on the planet. I think that farmers do a remarkable job with the money that this country devotes to farming.

Answered on Mar 27th, 2008 More
Should the federal government require schools to teach nutrition?
Asked by: goat from Brooklyn, NY. Received 13 Votes.
Categories: Agriculture · Consumer · Economy · Education · Energy · Environment · Globalization · Health · Immigration · Rural · Technology.

Listen to: U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)

Nutrition education we already do within health classes. When my kids were in kindergarten or 1st Grade, and how many grains and how many dairies, so nutrition education, yes. One of the other questions to be asked is, is it the federal government’s role to tell schools what they should be doing within the choices that are available within a school. We need to keep in mind that within the past 40 some-odd years, we’ve been doing that within the school lunch program. We have set the standards within school lunches and we say there are standards that need to be met.

Answered on Mar 19th, 2008 More
Should the federal government require schools to teach nutrition?
Asked by: goat from Brooklyn, NY. Received 13 Votes.
Categories: Agriculture · Consumer · Economy · Education · Energy · Environment · Globalization · Health · Immigration · Rural · Technology.

Listen to: U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)

Well first of all, it’s not up the federal government to mandate what schools teach. I would never want to intrude on the local jurisdiction of schools to decide who they hire, who the fire, what books use. That’s not the role of the federal government. But I do think the role of the federal government is, as long as we’re providing school lunches and school breakfasts and food in schools, that we ought to be able to say what foods would be allowed in those schools.

Answered on Mar 19th, 2008 More
Do you think that US government support for corn-based ethanol will adversely affect the poor in developing countries through rising food prices and, if so, what will you do to avoid that outcome?
Asked by: Heather Franzese from Portland, OR. Received 24 Votes.
Categories: Agriculture · Energy · Globalization.

Listen to: U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)

Well, corn based ethanol is not our energy future. It’s already having an effect in this country and around the world. In terms of distorting price signals and supply chains. We need to have a requirement that biofuels are sustainable, positive for the economy and not mere substitutions and corn based as I say, is one that doesn’t meet those tests. We’re working to try to reform the farm bill to provide appropriate tax incentives for sustainable renewable energy and research for the biofuels that make sense.”

Answered on Jan 29th, 2008 More