Letters: Thompson’s Farm Bill ‘a corporate giveaway’; Hypocrisy abounds in reaction to Hunter Biden case

Thompson’s Farm Bill ‘a corporate giveaway’

Glenn Thompson has enjoyed the life of a congressman for 15 years. He’s marched in our parades, handed out Eagle Scout badges, and made countless speeches to an empty House Chamber. Fun stuff.

But where it really counts, Thompson has failed the people who elected him. He voted over 50 times to cut or gut the Affordable Care ACT, legislation that directly benefits the people of his District. On Jan. 6, 2021, he joined other Republican representatives in voting against certifying the Electoral College votes, all with zero evidence of any consequential election fraud, revealing himself as a full-fledged Trump toady.

Now, Thompson has demonstrated how he dances to the money from lobbyists and corporations while shafting the everyday people he is supposed to represent.

By virtue of seniority, Thompson has risen to head the House Agriculture Committee, which just drafted the new “Farm Bill” that will set ag policy for the next five years. Unfortunately, the bill does little for the small farmers Thompson loves to talk about.

Thompson’s farm bill, which is tailor-made to address the interests of big agribusiness, is a corporate giveaway. The bill fails to require county of origin labeling for food imports and fails to fund investigation of anti-trust violations. Worst of all, Thompson’s farm bill cuts $30 billion from the SNAP (food stamps) program, a lifeline for thousands of people in his District.

Like rotten food, Thompson is past his use-by date and should be tossed out.

Hypocrisy abounds in reaction to Hunter Biden case

The recent Hunter Biden gun charges case reflects a combination of various emotions.

The statute under which he was charged, making it a crime to misstate one’s drug use on a gun purchase application, is itself questionable. The gun industry, the NRA, and Congressional Republicans have argued that the drug use question should not appear on the application as it constitutes an unconstitutional infringement on the applicant’s Second Amendment rights. If Biden appeals his conviction on those grounds, these Republicans should voice their support for his cause. But, lacking integrity, they won’t.

The MAGA folks falsely claim that the Biden Administration “orchestrated” the Alvin Bragg case against Trump. If the White House were in charge of trials, the President could have “orchestrated” the Hunter case right out of existence. But he didn’t, because President Biden has integrity and respect for the rule of law, even to the point of ruling out a pardon for his son.

Republicans claim that the Bragg case would not have been brought if the defendant’s name were not Trump. An argument could be made that Hunter’s case would not have been brought if his name were not Biden. Having authorized a special counsel in the Trump case, Merrick Garland had no choice but to do the same in the Biden case to avoid the appearance of bias.

But the MAGA crowd will continue to lament the Trump decision while praising the Biden decision. Hypocrisy knows no bounds with these folks.