Commentary

More on Congress Pumping up Milk Prices

Ted wrote back on the 11th on the story about Congress moving quickly to prevent a small milk supplier from selling at a lower price in California than the prices fixed by the dairy industry. He made the good point that we worry about Big Oil screwing us at the pump, but don’t seem to care the Big Milk does it at the checkout stand with the help of Congress. My friend Richard Rider looked at how members of the House voted on the emergency “Milk Regulatory Equity Act” which guaranteed California milk drinkers could NOT be sold milk at lower prices. If you need more proof that the Republicans have no more fiscally conservative instincts, here it is. Republicans voted 162 in favor and 57 against, passing the measure with 74.0% of those voting. On the other hand, the Democrats did a bit better by milk drinkers, voting 122 to 71 in favor, supporting the bill with “only” 63.2%.