Editor,

Rep. Smith is right on target as to what this nation needs in the upcoming farm program, but what he does not address is how this new farm bill will be funded.  He does not mention that in the proposed budget there will be some $90 billion dollars to work with and some $70 billion of this is to go to increase the military spending which leaves just $20 billion to fund any other programs.  Rep. Smith talks about how this tax bill will provide many benefits to agriculture but does not list any of these benefits.  The only benefits in this tax bill is huge tax cuts for big corporations and the richest Americans.  I really believe that Rep. Smith is being untruthful and disingenuous in telling us that this tax bill will help agriculture.  It will be a struggle for the government to even make the PLC and ARC payments due the farmers in the future.   Conservation programs are at risk and many other farm programs will be at risk.  When you give the store away to the big corporations and richest Americans, you can only hurt programs for rural areas and agriculture and farm programs.  Agriculture is facing some very hard times and we need someone to be working against this administrations direction in starving rural agricultural programs not someone that is giving lip service to his constituents and not recognizing the reality of what is going on in the economics of this administration.

Steven Nein
Ovid, CO.