You suppose this guy went through all through school thinking this would be the mark of his success? Think this will be in the first paragraph of his obit?
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer has re-appointed a southern Indiana man to represent producers on the federal Lamb Promotion, Research and Information Board.
[. . .]
The board is financed by mandatory assessments of 30 cents per head paid by first-handlers and one-half cent per pound on the sale of ovine animals of any age, including ewes and rams. The assessments began in 2002.
The board was created to "develop markets for lamb products." That's working out SO well -- you can't imagine the explosion of lamb products at my local supermarket. One more example of too much government (in case the one-time, $700 billion spurt didn't convnice you).
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Good lord, Leo, hasn't Wall Street given you enough to bitch about? How is this different from any other checkoff program, most of which are self-funded and are only "government programs" in entirely nominal ways?
Well, Nance, it isn't any different ( http://cafehayek.typepad.com/hayek/agriculture/index.html, )and people like you think it's no big deal, so I guess Wall Street has only increased my intent to keep bitching.
Bitching: It's what's for dinner!
The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. The checkoff assessment became mandatory when the program was approved by 79 percent of producers in a 1988 national referendum vote.
So 79 percent of been producers decided paying $1 a head to promote beef consumption was a good deal. In my world, that's a landslide.