Mile might be cheaper if Joe Walsh's bill becomes law.
Both of McHenry County’s congressmen have now weighed in on cow issues.
Yesterday Don Manzullo announced he would co-sponsor a bill to keep the Federal EPA from defining poop as a hazardous material.
Today Joe Walsh calls for elimination of a “pre-refrigeration” milk price setting law. The press release follows:
Rep. Walsh Introduces ‘Dairy Deregulation Act’ to Put Milk Prices Back in the Hands of the Consumer
“Most taxpayers are unaware that they are paying for their milk twice…this is outrageous.”
Washington- Congressman Joe Walsh (IL-8) recently introduced the ‘Dairy Deregulation Act’ to phase out the government’s milk price setting regime, called the “Federal Milk Marketing Orders (FMMO)”.
This program was established in pre-refrigeration 1937 to guarantee that there were no shortages of milk across the country.
Today 74 years later, milk is the only major agricultural product with government-mandated prices that differ according to product use.
Walsh stated:
Joe Walsh
“Most taxpayers are unaware that they are paying for their milk twice. Currently American families are taxed to pay for a federal program that directly increases the cost of their milk.
“This is outrageous. Innocent taxpayers are being taken advantage of on a daily basis by another out-dated, pointless government program.
“It costs American taxpayers roughly $68 million a year to run this program that keeps milk prices artificially high.
“The price of milk should be set through market demand not government regulations.
“Today we continue to identify and cut wasteful government policies and programs.
“The House has passed over twenty bills that cut regulations, create jobs, and reduce consumer costs during this Congress.
“Deregulating the dairy industry will not only achieve administrative savings, but will ultimately provide lower dairy costs for consumers.”
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Harvard's Harmilda symbolizes the importance of dairy farms to McHenry County's past.
When I was McHenry County Treasurer from 1966-70, the office received Shoppers Service, a advertiser published in Harvard.
Every week dairy farmers were holding going-out-of-business auctions.
There are still dairy farms in McHenry County, but they are few and far between. Many local farmers have sold their farms and bought larger parcels of land in Wisconsin and elsewhere with the money they have received, usually from land speculators.
That Walsh has introduced this bill may be a leading indicator that he is running for re-election in the 8th district, because the price of milk is most assuredly designed to court consumer, not farmers.