On December 15, 2007, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that on December 14, 2007, the U.S. Senate approved a $286 Billion farm bill that expanded farm subsidies. It was also reported that Georgia’s two senators, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, voted for the bill and “beat back efforts by Senate Agriculture Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) to cut some subsidies.”
In a statement, Saxby Chambliss called the bill “a real victory for American agriculture.”
On January 18, 2007, Comptroller General David M. Walker, head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), said the following in testimony before the Senate Budget Committee: “We are on an imprudent and unsustainable long-term fiscal path, and while the short-term fiscal deficits have improved in recent years, the long term is getting worse every second of every minute of every day and the time for action is now.”
Studies have shown that the vast majority of farm subsidies go to wealthy individuals and large corporations. Subsidies also hurt poor farmers in other countries.
Buckley said: “This is a Robin Hood in reverse. Broken down by full-time American workers, the $286 Billion tab is over $2,000 apiece. If nominated by the Libertarian Party to be its U.S. Senate candidate for 2008, I will offer the voters a candidate who will strongly oppose farm subsidies and will also fight for fiscal sanity.”
