House Budget Committee Reveals 2012 Plan
Ag groups are concerned by proposal.
Compiled by staff
Published: Apr 6, 2011
Representative Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., unveiled his long-term spending plan on Tuesday. The chairman of the House Budget Committee says his plan would cut $6 trillion over the next decade by bringing non-security discretionary spending to 2008 levels, reforming Medicare by offering government-subsidized private insurance options and reforming Medicade through state block grants.
Senator Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., the Ranking Member on the Senate Budget Committee, called Ryan's plan the most serious attempt ever made to solve America's spending and debt problems while saving critical programs such as Medicare. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, says he hopes every American concerned about the country's future will take a look at it.
However several groups have voiced disapproval. National Corn Growers Association President Bart Schott says these cuts are significant. He says what is important is that farmers are not singled out and that the cuts proposed for agriculture are proportional to those proposed for other areas of the federal budget.
National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson says Chairman Ryan would be well-served to consider the sensible recommendations made by NFU farmer and rancher members instead of proposing short-sighted cuts in the 2012 Federal Budget that will do irreparable harm to American agriculture. He says members have called for a reallocation of funds from direct payment programs to other components of the safety net.
National Cotton Council Chairman Charles Parker says agriculture should not be asked to bear a disproportionate share in the federal deficit cutting process. He says NCC is urging Congress to carefully weigh all options so that U.S. agriculture is not weakened.
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Tagged: insurance, cotton, National Corn Growers Association
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