Key Vote Alert – “NO” on the Senate Farm Bill (S 954)

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KEY VOTE ALERT

“NO” on Senate Farm Bill (S 954)

The Club for Growth urges all Senators to vote “NO” on the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2013 (S 954). We expect the vote on final passage to occur later today or this week. The vote on final passage, and/or any procedural votes, will be included in the Club’s 2013 Congressional Scorecard.

This bill spends too much, reforms too little, and sadly maintains the “business as usual” mindset that controls Congress. Advocates of this farm bill will argue that the proposal reduces the deficit by billions of dollars, but the truth is that the farm program has grown by roughly 60% since the last one was authorized just five years ago.

Also, for blatantly political purposes, this bill continues the unholy marriage of agricultural subsidies and food stamps – two completely separate issues. At a minimum, these two programs should be voted on as separate, stand-alone bills. True reform would also include implementing a plan to devolve the food stamp program to the states and eventually eliminate federal agricultural subsidies. With our national debt quickly approaching $17 trillion, we need to stop spending billions on wasteful and anti-growth federal programs if we want to grow the economy and get our fiscal house in order.

Our Congressional Scorecard for the 113th Congress provides a comprehensive rating of how well or how poorly each member of Congress supports pro-growth, free-market policies and will be distributed to our members and to the public.