Montana Senator Sounds Off: Race-Based Farm Loan Forgiveness

This is one of the most shocking things Congressional Democrats shoved into the so-called COVID relief package, and you likely haven't heard a peep about it.

"This is racism." That's how Montana Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) summed up the race-based farm loan forgiveness plan that was snuck into the COVID relief bill by the Democrats. He's referring to the nearly $5 billion in spending for "socially disadvantaged farmers" to get loan forgiveness from the US Department of Agriculture.

And just what qualifies you as a "socially disadvantaged farmer"?

According to Senator Daines office:

This money is entirely determined by a farmer's ethnicity and has nothing to do with actual need. So, a wealthy Hispanic farmer—or any other minority—in California could get tons of money, while a struggling white farmer in Montana gets nothing. This is not fair to a majority of Montana farmers. 

Senator Daines joined us on Wednesday to highlight the race-based spending in the COVID bill. We talked about that and more which is featured in the below podcast:

Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) also hammered the legislation over the weekend during a Fox News appearance, as The Daily Caller reports:

This is out of control liberalism and in this bill … most of the money’s not spent this year: 90% of it has nothing to do with COVID,” Graham said, noting that the legislation will forgive loans for farmers but only if they’re “socially disadvantaged, if you’re African-American, some other minority, but if you’re a white person, if you’re a white woman, no forgiveness as reparations. What does that got to do with COVID?”

Democrats, of course, attacked Lindsay Graham, claiming that the legislation will help black farmers, even though The Hill reports that only about 25% of those who will receive the aid are black.

Here's how the Farm Bureau describes the provision:

While the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 does not appropriate funds directly, it’s estimated that $4 billion will be used to provide direct payments of up to 120% of a socially disadvantaged, e.g., Black, Hispanic, Native American or Asian American,  farmer’s or rancher’s outstanding debt as of Jan. 1, 2021. The loans include USDA Farm Service Agency direct farm loans, USDA guaranteed loans and Commodity Credit Corporation farm storage loans, among others. The additional 20% is intended to pay off the taxes associated with the amount of the direct payment related to the outstanding debt.