They don’t want to keep the “job creators” from creating jobs, don’tcha know.

There are other aspects of agribusiness that I find objectionable as well. If you’ve ever seen a colorado feed lot in which cattle stand ankle deep in their own waste, you would quickly come to question the methods of meat production as well. Let us not speak of large scale processing methods. Both of these observations made me give up beef for a long period of time in my life.

I don’t know if Congress is interested in the wholesale overhaul of this system. What I do know is there is a fairly active grass roots move afoot to circumvent the system and to turn toward local producers who provide delicious, fresh and wholesome products and so in a manner that is both sustainable and humane. Did I mention that what they produce is very high quality stuff.

Here comes the shameless plug. If you are interested in locally produced food:

wwww.roanokevalleylocavore.com

The above links to a directory of about 150 producers of local food.

And if you want to keep up with the scene on local social media…

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Roanoke-Valley-Locavore/350731487878?ref=hl

Like me on facebook! I would like to have 1000 likes by January 1st.

#7 Kristen, I’m sure you’re right. It’s also why they are still receiving the subsidies.

Sorry that should say $90 billion per year.

How do you feel about these federal and state subsidies? You are paying for them too.

“From 2008 to 2010, the 280 most profitable U.S. corporations sheltered half of their profits from taxes, thanks to tax subsidies totaling nearly $224 billion, according to a 2011 analysis by Citizens for Tax Justice. A dozen large companies, including Exxon-Mobil, Boeing, and General Electric, reaped $175 billion in profits, but their combined tax rate was negative 1.4 percent, thanks to $64 billion in subsidies from oil depletion allowances, write-offs from overseas profits, and other loopholes, according to the study.”

“The highest three-year average effective rate paid by any of the 12 large corporations in the Citizens for Tax Justice study was 14.2 percent—less than many middle class families.”

“Total state and local tax subsidies to business add up to about $70 billion a year.” These subsidies didn’t just come about by accident—at least 30 Fortune 500 firms pay their lobbyists more than they pay in taxes.”

The source for my data is below. Federal subsidies to business, via tax breaks or direct subsidies, totals more than $90 per year. Eliminating them would save $900 billion over ten years. That is a start on solving the budget deficit issue.

The only “entitlement programs” the Republicans want to talk about is Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid. I think that if we want to trim Social security, Medicare & Medicaid we need to cut corporate welfare first.

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2012/04/05/how-everyone-else-pays-for-big-businesss-tax-breaks

This also goes to the “conservative” SCOTUS rulings that allow for virtually unlimited private control and commercial exploitation of genetics, which could become a harbinger of issues on the control of human genotypes.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_16844.cfm