<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Hein Hettinga had a really bad day yesterday. He?s having a really bad day today. And if you live in Arizona or California and drink milk, you?re about to have a really bad day, too. On Tuesday, President George W. Bush quietly signed into law S. 2120, the so-called Milk Regulatory Equity Act of 2005, a carefully crafted piece of legislation which was aimed squarely at preventing Hettinga?s dairy farm from offering milk at lower prices than Dean Foods and other large milk distributors such as the Dairy Farmers of America. ?Basically, I?m a pebble in the shoe of DFA and Dean Foods,? Hettinga said. ?The only reason I?m a success is they are a milk monopoly and they have raised the price too high. The consumer is getting ripped off.? So the days of buying two gallons of Hettinga?s Sarah Farms milk for $3.99 are over. The bill, passed in both the House and Senate with almost no debate, amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act, part of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, and will require Hettinga to participate in federal milk marketing order requirements, effective May 1. The federal milk marketing program requires most milk producers and handlers to set minimum prices on their products and to pool their revenues. It also tries to balance the supply and demand of milk and milk products, which can vary widely from day to day. Whether that?s actually true, or the milk marketing program is even needed, is debatable, as Hettinga?s success shows. The new law would, in effect, require Hettinga to pay his competitors to stay in business. Hettinga has also sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture over a rule passed last month which would impose similar requirements on his farms. So how did the dairy industry do it? They got the best politician money can buy. In the very short debate before the bill passed the House, Rep. Devin Nunez (R-Calif.) argued in support of it, and if you think he is a Republican, or even a conservative, or even understands the free market, you should hear what he had to say about the situation: ?Their ability to operate under preferential treatment in a highly regulated industry, while taking government subsidies, is not free market capitalism,? he said on the House floor March 28. Oh, but it gets better. ?The hard working dairy farmers in Arizona have witnessed a steady decline in their pool since unregulated handlers began to flourish. They deserve to be treated fairly by their government and should never be placed in a situation where government regulations unintentionally disadvantage them in the marketplace. Regulated processors in Arizona are no less efficient or innovative than their unregulated competitors. They are simply unable to compete with businesses that don?t have to play by the rules. This situation is wrong and must be resolved by Congress.? So the way to resolve the situation and restore ?fairness? to the system is to end the milk regulations, which in this day and age do little but to protect the largest dairy farm operations and keep prices artificially high. ?Let me be clear: unregulated handlers are not promoting market competition. They are driving out competition. They owe their success to the dairy programs and to the advantage they have found in loopholes,? Nunez said. So he urged Congress to pass the legislation to ?close these loopholes and restore free market principles and fair regulation to the dairy industry.? Now it?s clear that Nunez doesn?t seem to understand much of anything about free market principles. There hasn?t been a free market in milk in this country since 1937. And it shows in the grossly overinflated prices we pay for milk, cheese, butter and other dairy products. This government regulation seems to have outlived its usefulness and should be scrapped entirely. That will restore free market principles and end the current system?s favor of large corporations which have steadily driven out the small family farmers ever since milk regulation began.</div> Source: Homelandstupidity.com Here's another story about it from Forbes.com http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/08/10/ap4009942.html
YES! I love milk, I drink like 5 glasses a day. Choclate and white. I said YES! because I live in CANADA!!!! WOOOO!!
I love this. For years and years they have commercials with celebrities drinking milk and such. And how important milk is to the body and for young children developing strong bones. And then they skyrocket the prices. Bastards. I wonder if they were bullshitting us the whole time. Cuz realistically everything in some light can be "good" for you.
So...this means that since the price of milk is going up....the price of cheese is going up so we're gonna have to up the prices on the pizza at Pizza Hut again which meanss we're gonna get more of the stupid customers complaining about how expensive pizza hut is and theyll call dominoes.
We just raised the prices @ Starbucks. Depending on the drink and the size, the drink was raised 5 cents or 10 cents. I doubt we'll raise it again.
They made the sizes of medium milk shakes at mcdonalds smaller too...SMH...I wonder if this has something to do with it.
^ I know man. I used to buy Medium sized Milk Shakes at McDonalds and it would take me a while to drink it but now its like nothing, I go for the Large now.
I'm sick to death of hearing Bush sign these kinds of laws. Whoever takes over after him will have a whole lot of work to do, cleaning up GW's mess.
<div class="quote_poster">hustler Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">5 glasses a day? ****.</div> I like Milk. It is mostly chocolate, I have it with every meal, except dinner.
<div class="quote_poster">hustler Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I'm not saying it's bad. but 5 glasses is a lot.</div> I know, but I like milk. lol.
<div class="quote_poster">Master Shake Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I like Milk. It is mostly chocolate, I have it with every meal, except dinner.</div> Is that whole milk? Wow that is a lot of fat. You should probably cut down on the sugar too.
<div class="quote_poster">huevonkiller Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Is that whole milk? Wow that is a lot of fat. You should probably cut down on the sugar too.</div> 2% white, 1% chocolate. I'm actually not fat. I'm 145 pounds, 5'11. I'm skinny.
<div class="quote_poster">Master Shake Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">2% white, 1% chocolate. I'm actually not fat. I'm 145 pounds, 5'11. I'm skinny.</div> Ah that's good, but too much sugar is never good for anyone. How many grams of sugar are in your drinks per serving? I make sure to drink no more than a can of soda a day (at worst) or the equivalent of that, and then I save a little room for a light desert (around 30 grams of sugar in the worst case). Of course I might cheat once or twice a month though. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> Now it’s clear that Nunez doesn’t seem to understand much of anything about free market principles. There hasn’t been a free market in milk in this country since 1937. And it shows in the grossly overinflated prices we pay for milk, cheese, butter and other dairy products. This government regulation seems to have outlived its usefulness and should be scrapped entirely. That will restore free market principles and end the current system’s favor of large corporations which have steadily driven out the small family farmers ever since milk regulation began.</div> I feel bad for the smaller companies.
<div class="quote_poster">huevonkiller Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Ah that's good, but too much sugar is never good for anyone. How many grams of sugar are in your drinks per serving? </div> I actually drink a lot of water. Unless I have McDonalds or fast food, it is all water for me. I don't drink that much pop. Sometimes I go 2 weeks at a time with no pop or anything. I like to keep in shape for basketball all the time, so never to much McDonalds or pop.
