Letter: Meadows stands up to special interests in Farm Bill

Graphic by Lori Deaton

Congressman [Mark] Meadows deserves credit for standing up for taxpayers and against special interests in the Farm Bill. The SNAP debate around expanding work requirements and job training for able-bodied adults overshadows a giant loophole that rewards “Facetime farmers.”

Currently, you can claim “active management” and get subsidies — up to $125,000 annually, double for married couples — without ever stepping foot on a farm. Management can simply be deciding what to plant, securing financing or even navigating USDA subsidy paperwork. In 2015, absentee managers received $260 million. The most egregious operation qualified 25 members plus 10 spouses as “managers” to gobble up $3.7 million in farm subsidies.

Rep. Meadows wants to close this loophole so that only those actually working on the farm qualify for subsidies, while limiting operations to no more than one “farm manager.” The Senate bill includes this amendment, but House leaders refused to even allow a debate.

Congressman Meadows understands that business-as-usual farm bills are no longer an option, and that starts with work requirements for everyone. This isn’t a partisan perspective, it’s simple commonsense. At a time when that seems in short supply, District 11 constituents should be proud their congressman has some.

— Joshua Sewell, Taxpayers for Common Sense
Nan Swift, National Taxpayers Union
Washington, D.C.

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5 thoughts on “Letter: Meadows stands up to special interests in Farm Bill

  1. Jon King

    I’m glad that someone from DC has chimed in with something to like about Mark Meadows. And here I was, thinking that he and his fellows from the Caucus of Freedom had achieved nothing whatsoever.

  2. Silly Sally

    Why is mxpress publishing press releases from far right think tanks?

    • Tracy Rose

      Actually, this is not a press release; it’s a letter to the editor. While letters from writers in our distribution area are given priority, we do occasionally receive letters from people outside the area and may publish them if they pertain to WNC.

  3. Enlightened Enigma

    We are blessed to have Mark Meadows as our Congressional Representative, despite all his ‘crackkk critics around here…

    Question: how long as this absentee management scam been in effect and who initially sponsored it / worked it? When did it become law? Never heard of it.

  4. Bam

    “Rep. Mark Meadows, R-North Carolina, says current federal law that compels the separation of immigrant children from their families crossing the U.S. border is “horrible” and says there is “real bipartisan support” for changing the policy, although immigration reform remains stagnant on Capitol Hill.

    Transcript: Rep. Mark Meadows on “Face the Nation”
    “Here’s one of the interesting things, as we’ve been in these negotiations on trying to fix the immigration problem. This came out just the other day, and I said, ‘I can’t imagine that it’s the law that you have to separate these individuals,'” Meadows told “Face the Nation” on Sunday. Meadows is chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus and one of Mr. Trump’s most influential allies on Capitol Hill.”

    May 2018. Since this quote, the detention camps for children have grown by the thousands. Mark Meadows has not introduced any legislation or made any more comments. We need representation that will not allow our government to imprison children.

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