The first district is two things. A place where farming is important, and a place with an over abundance of poor folks. So the farm bill that made it through the U.S. Senate being slightly less bad than expected is a big deal for Rick Crawford’s constituents. Of course, the ones that need the assistance are no where near as important to Republicans as the ones with money, so guess who Rick Crawford’s buddies are sharpening the axe for:
Deeply flawed, yet not as bad as it could have been, the Senate farm bill now goes to the House. There, Tea Party stalwarts bearing sharp knives will hack away at it—targeting anti-hunger programs like SNAP and the Know Your Farmer initiatives, while leaving the handouts to Big Ag intact.
The bill has already seen the SNAP program (food stamps) take several billion in cuts rather than the big money wasters in the bill. Whatever emerges from the House is going to be bad, and you know Crawford’s going to walk the plank and vote for it, then come back touting it as a good deal for farmers (read big agribusiness-not real, honest to God farmers that are almost an extinct species) while shrugging his shoulders at the many constituents that will be hurt by Republican cuts to the social safety net.
