Ag subsidies only for BigAG? Farmers Union fights back

MFU Working to Support Small Family Dairies
By: Doug Peterson, Minnesota Farmers Union - 07/27/2011

Recently, Representative Collin Peterson presented a dairy reform proposal to National Farmers Union. The proposal attempts to resolve a number of critical issues that prevent the current dairy safety net from functioning adequately.

While Ranking Member Peterson's proposal acted to initiate meaningful and necessary dairy reform, the proposal in its current form rewards large dairies, while not providing the support necessary support for small dairies to succeed. The primary problem with this proposal is that it appears that the largest farmers will reap the greatest benefits at the expense of smaller family farms. Currently in Minnesota there are 4,302 dairy farms with the average herd size being 104 cows.

National Farmers Union has created a resolution that outlines solutions that would benefit all United States dairy farmers. The resolution includes proposals such as a refundable assessment collection on all milk at all times, an implementation of a variable make allowance, and an effective supply management program that utilizes a fixed base.

It is encouraging that the issue of reform in the dairy industry is being taken up in Congress, but it is clear that this legislation can be improved to create a safety net to support all family farm dairies. We will continue working with policymakers to ensure that any proposed dairy policy reforms do not exacerbate an already dire situation. 

Reclaiming Oil Subsidies: Senate Democrats Prepping Bill That Would Recover Billions From Big Firms

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/28/oil-subsidies-senate-bill_n_855193.html

Seizing the moment, Senate Democrats are working on legislation that would reclaim billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies to Big Oil and redirect the money toward developing cleaner and cheaper fuel sources instead.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) announced on Thursday that his committee is crafting a measure that would repeal major tax breaks for the five largest oil and gas companies, which reported huge spikes in first-quarter profits this week due to skyrocketing oil prices.
"Now is not the time to stand idly by while large oil and gas companies get billions of dollars in tax breaks -- now is the time to take concrete steps toward cleaner, more affordable, domestically-produced energy," Baucus said in a statement. "Reducing dependence on foreign oil isn't easy, but this plan puts us on a path toward a clean, affordable energy future that works for our planet -- and our pocketbooks."
The bill could be ready as soon as next week.
Democrats seem to have found their own source of renewable energy in some poorly-chosen words by House Speaker John Boehner, who in an interview with ABC News on Monday seemingly abandoned longstanding Republican dogma by conceding that oil companies "ought to be paying their fair share" and that the subsidies are "certainly something we should be looking at."
Boehner's staff and colleagues quickly corrected the speaker. But empowered Democrats were already in motion.
Capitalizing on Boehner's comments -- and anger about high gas prices, and first-quarter profit reports -- President Barack Obama and his press secretary called for immediate action Tuesday.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) followed suit by pledging their support. "I'm going to try to get it done as soon as I can do it procedurally in the Senate here," Reid told reporters on Wednesday.
Democratic and environmental groups revved up their email lists. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee even popped up a new website Thursday morning, dubbing the GOP's relationship with the petroleum industry the "R-Oil Wedding."
Meanwhile, the liberal thinkprogress.org website distributed a video in which House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) told a town hall audience that he favored ending oil subsidies. "[W]e propose to repeal all that," Ryan said of corporate welfare generally. Asked specifically about ending oil subsidies, he said "I agree."
But Ryan's office told Politico that the congressman made his comments in the context of overall corporate tax reform.
The American Petroleum Institute and the rest of the oil and gas lobby have historically had more than enough clout on Capitol Hill to fend off attacks.
In fact, many considered Obama's proposal to repeal the subsidies in his State of the Union speech in January to be dead on arrival. Congress had rejected similar requests in two previous budget proposals, even with Democratic majorities in both houses.
But the API seems to be getting increasingly testy as of late.
The group on Thursday called Baucus' plan "a proposal borne of desperation that would do nothing to reduce gasoline prices." API chief economist John Felmy said in a statement, "If Senator Baucus were serious about gasoline prices, he would focus on further development of our vast resources here at home which would create much needed American jobs, increase revenue to the government, and strengthen our energy security."
Baucus' office said his plan would bar the biggest companies from receiving a credit intended for domestic manufacturers, reduce their foreign tax credits for royalty payments to foreign governments and impose an excise tax on certain Gulf leases.
The billions of dollars recouped through those means would be used to promote demand for clean and domestic fuel, incentivize fuel efficient vehicles and build a clean energy infrastructure.
House Democrats have already introduced a bill that would eliminate $40 billion in tax breaks for big oil and gas companies over five years.


************************* Dan Froomkin is senior Washington correspondent for The Huffington Post. You can send him an email, bookmark his page; subscribe to his RSS feed, follow him on Twitter, friend him on Facebook, and/or become a fan and get email alerts when he writes.

  John Boehner ,   Max Baucus ,   Gas Prices ,   President Obama , Gas & Oil , Oil And Gas Subsidies , Oil Industry , Politics News

REPORT: Ending Tax Dodging By The Rich Would Save More Money Than Gutting Ohio’s Unions

http://thinkprogress.org/2011/03/02/tax-dodging-ohio-unions/

In the past couple weeks, thousands of working class and middle class Ohioans have marched as part of a larger Main Street Movement against Gov. John Kasich’s (R-OH) effort to effectively gut the collective bargaining rights of public sector unions in his state with Senate Bill 5. The effort is similar to Gov. Scott Walker’s (R-WI) own campaign against his state’s public employee unions.

Kasich claims that his proposal is “designed to fight joblessness and poverty” and that it is necessary to be able to overcome his state’s budget deficit. To justify this push, he cites figures like one from the Office of Collective Bargaining that says his state would save $1.3 billion if his anti-union proposal were enacted. While it’s true that this is a lot of money, and that the state is facing future budgetary problems, what it avoids is something very crucial: responsibility.

Ohio’s budget deficit, like most states’ current deficits, is largely a result of the economic recession. And the Great Recession wasn’t caused by teachers, firefighters, policemen, and other hardworking middle class Americans — it was caused by Wall Street.

So it is simply unfair for Kasich to try to balance his state’s budget on the backs of people who didn’t cause the problem and who have already suffered the most during the recession. Rather, a more just and fair way for the state to get revenue would be to crack down on the state’s special interest tax dodging and special loopholes and tax breaks for the rich. In fact, doing so would save even more money than decimating the rights of Ohio’s public sector unions. ThinkProgress has assembled a far from comprehensive list of some of these special interest tax breaks and loopholes that could help balance the budget and end any need for a war on unions:

- End Ohio’s 2005 Tax Cuts For The Wealthiest And Make Them Pay Their Fair Share: In 2005, Ohio enacted a sweeping overhaul of its tax system which involved doing away the state’s tax on corporate profits and major reductions in the state income tax. More than 40 percent of these tax cuts went to the richest 5 percent of Ohioans, and in 2006, “the richest one percent of Ohio families took in slightly more pretax income than the bottom half of the population.” Restoring the 7.5 percent income tax rate on income over $200,000 and creating a new 8.5 percent rate on income above $500,000 would generate $950 million a year.

- End The Exemption For Pollution-Control Equipment: Since 1963, Ohio has provided a sales-tax exemption for pollution-control equipment. While this may have made sense in the days before the creation of the EPA, most of the current equipment purchases that utilities make are now mandated, meaning that the state is essentially incentivizing something that is basically going to happen anyway — making the exemption nothing more than a giveaway to utilities. Ending this exemption would save $2.3 million.

- End The Social Security And Railroad Retirement Benefits Exemption For Rich Ohioans Who Don’t Need It: Ohio currently provides a special tax exemption for Social Security and railroad retirement benefits for its residents. While this is likely a positive ting for most Ohioans, it currently goes to even the wealthiest who clearly do not need it. In 2006, 36,00 Ohioans with taxable income above $150,00 received this exemption, costing more than $45 million. “The 6,591 taxpayers with income above $500,000 saved $10 million that year because of the exemption.” Ending the exemption for those with incomes of $150,000 or more would save the state $55 million.

- Revoke Special Interest Breaks Given Under The Commercial Activity Tax: These special tax breaks under this tax allow mega companies to “write off” losses incurred before the phasing out of the state’s corporate income tax until 2030, which would cost the state $45 million a year. As Policy Matters Ohio writes of the breaks, “Lose a little, and the state can’t help you. Lose a bundle, and you qualify.”

- End Property-Tax Reduction Programs For Rich Ohioans Who Don’t Need Them: Limiting the homestead property tax reductions in the state to seniors who are in the middle class or poor would save the state an estimated $118 million a year.

- End Ohioan Banks’ Special Tax Expenditure: Ohioan banks profit off of an exemption that currently hands them $177 million each year, which is “worth more than their expected total corporate franchise tax.”

- End The Tax Exemption On Vehicles For Use Out Of State: This tax exemption, which serves little purpose other than to buoy the sales of certain vehicles, costs the state $69 million every year.

- End The Special Income Tax Deduction For Gambling Losses: In a bizarre move, the Ohioan legislature approved a “new income-tax deduction for gambling losses that could cost the state $80 million every two years, starting a few months after Ohio’s new casinos are expected to open.”

Nearly 10,000 people marched against against SB 5 yesterday as the bill is expected to come up for a vote this week and was passed in committee this morning. The Ohio Senate is expected to take up the bill as early as this week, and in the Ohio House — which is composed of 59 Republicans and 40 Democrats — the measure is also expected to pass easily, unless grassroots pressure is able to forces some Republican defections. If the bill passes, its supporters will essentially be telling Ohio that they thought middle class Ohioans like those belonging to public employee unions should have to sacrifice while asking nothing more of the richest Ohioans.

UPDATE

The Main Street Movement showed up in force outside the Georgia capitol, as hundreds of students marched against dramatic cuts to tuition aid.