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Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday blamed Republicans for sinking the farm bill, saying GOP leaders simply failed to rally enough majority-party support to send the bill to the Senate.

“The Republicans have the majority of Congress and it's their responsibility to send a bill,” Pelosi said shortly after the vote. “What [was] happening on the floor today was a demonstration of major amateur hour. They didn't get results and they put the blame on somebody else.”

The House shot down the five-year, $940 billion farm bill in a 195-234 vote, with just 24 Democrats supporting the measure and 62 Republicans opposing it. GOP leaders said afterwards that Democrats had promised to deliver 40 votes but reneged — an assertion Pelosi rejected outright.

“Absolutely not,” she said of that claim. “I never had any conversations with them about a number of votes, and they knew that if they lost more than 40 or 50 votes it was not a good thing for them.”

Although many Democrats were poised to oppose the package over steep cuts to the food stamp program, Pelosi suggested there was enough support in her party to send the underlying bill to the Senate — until GOP leaders doomed the proposal with a pair of conservative amendments they knew would scare Democrats from the final package.

“Enough [Democratic] members were ready to support the bill that came out of committee, even though they didn't like it, as long as it didn't get worse on the floor,” Pelosi said. “That was the responsibility of the majority.”

The first controversial amendment, championed by Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), would eliminate government production limits on dairy processors. The second, sponsored Rep. Steve Southerland (R-Fla.), would empower states to require food stamp beneficiaries to seek work while on the program.

“They put two seeds of their own destruction in the bill,” Pelosi charged.

Pelosi noted that 61 Republicans voted for the Southerland amendment, then voted against the final bill. She questioned why GOP leaders allowed a vote on an amendment that posed such a threat to the overall package.

“It's a stunning thing,” she said. “Why would you give people an amendment that's going to kill your bill?”

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kalm wrote:People on assistance should be required to seek work. If they can't find work, they should be performing at least a minimal amount of public service or be going through some form of training/education to improve their employability.

D1B wrote:

kalm wrote:People on assistance should be required to seek work. If they can't find work, they should be performing at least a minimal amount of public service or be going through some form of training/education to improve their employability.

No shit. Everyone on significant welfare has to work or look for work. There are also time limits on all welfare (including food stamps) for the poor. There is a bottomless pit of welfare for farmers, bankers, Wall Street shysters, big corporations, politicians, lawyers, defense contractors, the military and military contractor parasites.

Work Requirements

SNAP doesn’t do enough to encourage participants to get a job, and the program needs stronger work requirements.

SNAP already has strict time-limits for unemployed workers. Able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) may only receive 3 months of SNAP benefits during any 3 year period, unless they are working in a qualifying job training program.

The SNAP benefit formula is structured to provide a strong work incentive – for every additional dollar a SNAP participant earns, their benefits decline by about 24 to 36 cents, not a full dollar, so participants have a strong incentive to find work, work longer hours, or seek better-paying employment.

D1B wrote:

kalm wrote:People on assistance should be required to seek work. If they can't find work, they should be performing at least a minimal amount of public service or be going through some form of training/education to improve their employability.

No shit. Everyone on significant welfare has to work or look for work. There are also time limits on all welfare (including food stamps) for the poor. There is a bottomless pit of welfare for farmers, bankers, Wall Street shysters, big corporations, politicians, lawyers, defense contractors, the military and military contractor parasites.

BDKJMU wrote:940 billion over 5 years. We don't have the $$ for such a bloated bill.

The bloated one passed under Bush in 02' was 10 yr/190 billion, 19 billion a yr, 24.6 billion a yr in today's $$. Now some people wanted one that's 48 billion a yr.

AZGrizFan wrote:

BDKJMU wrote:940 billion over 5 years. We don't have the $$ for such a bloated bill.

The bloated one passed under Bush in 02' was 10 yr/190 billion, 19 billion a yr, 24.6 billion a yr in today's $$. Now some people wanted one that's 48 billion a yr.

Uh....try $188 Billion/year, Einstein.

andy7171 wrote:

AZGrizFan wrote:
Uh....try $188 Billion/year, Einstein.

He was using OSBFian mathmatics.

andy7171 wrote:

AZGrizFan wrote:
Uh....try $188 Billion/year, Einstein.

He was using OSBFian mathmatics.