http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13622029/
How 'bout y'all fix this before worrying about gay marriage or flag burning? If not I'm going to unleash my squirrel army on you.
Thanks for taking care of that.
Sincerely,
DRB
The King of Friday.
Even though Donald R. Matthews put his sprawling new residence in the heart of rice country, he is no farmer. He is a 67-year-old asphalt contractor who wanted to build a dream house for his wife of 40 years.
Yet under a federal agriculture program approved by Congress, his 18-acre suburban lot receives about $1,300 in annual "direct payments," because years ago the land was used to grow rice.
Matthews is not alone. Nationwide, the federal government has paid at least $1.3 billion in subsidies for rice and other crops since 2000 to individuals who do no farming at all, according to an analysis of government records by The Washington Post.
The checks to Matthews and other landowners were intended 10 years ago as a first step toward eventually eliminating costly, decades-old farm subsidies. Instead, the payments have grown into an even larger subsidy that benefits millionaire landowners, foreign speculators and absentee landlords, as well as farmers.
Dear President Bush, Congress, et.al,The cash comes with so few restrictions that subdivision developers who buy farmland advertise that homeowners can collect farm subsidies on their new back yards.
How 'bout y'all fix this before worrying about gay marriage or flag burning? If not I'm going to unleash my squirrel army on you.
Thanks for taking care of that.
Sincerely,
DRB
The King of Friday.