Monday Blues

This evening, I received an email from my distinguished senator, Blanche Lincoln.  It was a form letter, of course, but with Senator Lincoln, a constituent is lucky to receive anything at all.  She's generally too busy to answer my thoughtful, respectful, and detailed correspondence.  I was feeling happy and special until I began to read.

That rattling you felt under your feet a few moments ago wasn't an earthquake; it was my jaw hitting the ground.  Ow.  Let me share her letter in its entirety: 

President Obama’s FY2011 Budget Proposal

Earlier today, President Obama released his budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2011. As Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, I am opposed to cuts to programs important to agriculture and rural communities.
Throughout my Senate career, I have been a strong, independent voice for Arkansas’s agricultural producers. Now, as Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, I am standing up for farmers and ranchers and all of rural America once again by opposing cuts that will harm the hard-working men and women who are the backbone of our rural economy. 

Put simply, the President’s proposal picks winners and losers. By targeting policies that rural America relies upon, this proposal places a disproportionate burden on the backs of farmers and rural communities.  While I too believe we must reduce the federal deficit, we must all share in this responsibility.

In 2008, I worked hard to pass a five-year farm bill that was fiscally responsible. This bill contained over $4 billion worth of cuts to farm programs, was completely paid for and did not contribute to the deficit. The Farm Bill is a contract with our farmers that they depend on to make business decisions. Changing the rules in the middle of the game would be detrimental to their operations and would cost us even more jobs in rural America.

I thank the President for his recommendations, but Congress writes the budget. I intend to support measures to reduce the deficit but fight many of the President’s proposed cuts that will harm farmers, ranchers and rural communities.

With Arkansas Pride,

I added the bolding so you could share the exact moment my chin landed between my feet.  For those of you who are unaware of the content of the 2008 Farm Bill, here's some light reading.   2010 can't come fast enough.

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