posted 01-22-2015 08:49 PM                  

But an investigation of public records by the Washington D.C.-based District Sentinel online news site showed that between 1995 and 2009, Ernst’s family received nearly a half-million dollars in government handouts, payments targeted toward subsidizing farms with taxpayer funds.

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/1777070/joni-ernst-on-welfare-gop-senators-family-took-460000-in-taxpayer-handouts/#SwChfHirLKMKKh2M.99

Iowa ranks second only to Texas in farm subsidies, with the largely rural and agricultural state receiving $24.9 billion in subsidies between 1995 and 2012.
http://www.salon.com/2015/01/22/joni_ernsts_family_received_nearly_half_a_million_dollars_in_federal_farm_subsidies/

posted 01-23-2015 06:00 AM                  

Always Faithful!

posted 01-23-2015 09:52 AM                  

The article referenced is simply more political "half-truths" that make it seem that the government simply wrote the "fat cat" farmer a check for half-million dollars....(read cstall's post again for details)

The next time you sit down to a delicious AND AFFORDABLE meal you can thank a farmer and be grateful for government subsidies that allow him to continue his profession.

"The Democratic Party......Keeping their sheeple ignorant since 1828"

posted 01-23-2015 10:36 AM                  

Second

Joni Ernst is 44 years old, born in 1970. She would have gone to school in the 70's & 80's. So how does what the family received in subsidies between 1995 and 2009 have any bearing about her statements of what it was like growing up and going to school? Additionally here are some facts about the farm industry in the 80's which also would support what Joni Ernst described while growing up.

By the early 1980s, tight money and high interest rates had burst agriculture's speculative bubble. The federal government estimated that farmland value dropped by nearly 60% in some parts of the Midwest between 1981 and 1985. Many farm operators found it impossible to retire their debts as fast as their asset values declined. In addition, the decision by President Jimmy Carter to enforce a grain embargo as a means of punishing the Soviet Union for its invasion of Afghanistan cost the American farmer a crucial overseas market.

As he watched profits decline by 36% between 1980 and 1988, the middle level farmer who had aggressively indebted himself in the Seventies faced grave financial peril during the next decade. By early 1984, in the depths of the crisis, farm indebtedness had risen to $215 billion, double what it had been in 1978, and fifteen times the 1950 level. According to Emmanuel Melicher, Federal Reserve senior economist, more than one-third of America's commercial farmers were in serious trouble. For the first time in history, the total of interest payments on farm loans exceeded total net farm income. Farm foreclosures rose dramatically, and the crisis had a ripple effect, negatively impacting the manufacture and sale of farm machinery, seed and fertilizer. Rural banks went into receivership. Rural communities suffered in other ways; as more and more farmers were forced out of business, small town enterprises saw their profits plummet. In 1986, the Minnesota Agriculture Department calculated that every farm loss wiped out three non-farm jobs. Many described the farm crisis of the Eighties as the worst since the Great Depression.

http://eightiesclub.tripod.com/id395.htm

posted 01-24-2015 04:47 PM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by mslc10:
And this parallels the pregnant unwed mother of 5 in public housing

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You're so right.....She's busy creating illegitimate babies for the taxpayer to support (at God only knows what cost) while the farmer is working his ass off trying to feed the world....

....But the libs want to crucify the farmer...

....Are the friggin' bleeding heart liberals "brain dead"?

posted 01-24-2015 09:43 PM                  

After moving to Indiana I never worked on a farm again and never wanted to be a farmer but things are different here.
The farms I grew up on were dairy farms and that is a 24/7 job with no vacation but grain farmers grow crops just to sell. A lot of people I worked with in the steel mill were farmers and a 1,000 acres was common. They planted in the Spring and harvested in the Fall and worked full time in the mill. That type of farming is not a 24/7 job but still it is a lot of work. They had a lot more security with a good paying union job and benefits. I don't claim to know a lot about farm subsidies but I found this.

DEFINITION OF 'SUBSIDY'
A benefit given by the government to groups or individuals usually in the form of a cash payment or tax reduction. The subsidy is usually given to remove some type of burden and is often considered to be in the interest of the public.

Politics play an important part in subsidization. In general, the left is more in favor of having subsidized industries, while the right feels that industry should stand on its own without public funds.

INVESTOPEDIA EXPLAINS 'SUBSIDY'
There are many forms of subsidies given out by the government, including welfare payments, housing loans, student loans and farm subsidies. For example, if a domestic industry, like farming, is struggling to survive in a highly competitive international industry with low prices, a government may give cash subsidies to farms so that they can sell at the low market price but still achieve financial gain.

posted 01-24-2015 10:21 PM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by padroo:
They had a lot more security with a good paying union job and benefits.

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posted 01-25-2015 09:08 AM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by StingRay:
Yeah, and THAT is what is killing America now ... don't believe it, look around you .... if you can without your Sheeple Blinders on that have been paid for with all those union dollars.

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posted 01-25-2015 09:20 AM                  

I had no choice about being a member or not and dues were deducted like taxes. (automatically)

The part that upset me is when I had a problem that couldn't be resolved with the store manager, the Union didn't offer any hint of support. My opinion of Unions at that time went downhill.

Today I am a Union Employed Mass Transit Worker and the pay is right about where it should be for someone with the years of experience and knowledge I have. The part that makes this job a good deal for me are the benefits and that makes all the difference.

What makes me nervous is all this crap about mandatory insurance coverages through the odumbo care program. My concern is my coverages may suffer as a result of these mandated policies and that would simply stink.

posted 01-25-2015 08:32 PM                  

If you are ever traveling I-65 North of Indianapolis this is really something to see and take the kids, I guarantee you will be impressed.