Three Topic Research Paper

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Prop. 63. Retrieved October 10, 2016, from http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/Chronicle-recommends-Yes-on-Prop-63-9218383.php

This is an article that supports proposition 63. It expresses their own ideas and viewpoints on the issue. The San Francisco Chronicle shows how much they support Proposition 63 and has a strong bias towards it. It goes along with the Democratic Party of California

Topic: The 2014 Farm Bill

Brief Overview

Farm Bills are passed around every four or five years. It was passed in February 2014 and was actually considered 2 years late because there was a farm bill that was declined 2012. This bill is in effect until 2018 and adds a lot of benefits to agriculture such as money for crop research, new crop insurance, new nutrition programs, and new conservation programs for farm lands.

2. Personal Interest

I chose this topic because I am currently employed in agriculture. When I graduate I want to be a pest control advisor and in order to do that there has to be agriculture. A lot of land is being taken over by cities that would be great for farming. This bill will help conserve fertile farmland that could benefit me in my profession. My family also farms in Tulare, California and this bill helped with providing better crop insurance for my uncles almond ranches.

3. Competing arguments/interests/claims

There are as many as 400 companies that oppose the Farm Bill and a few of them are, The American Soybean Association, National Corn Growers Association, and National Milk federation. They are opposing it because it will make cuts to their funding for food related programs. Over the next years the programs that were cut were planned to contribute over 23 billion dollars. Many liberal groups also oppose the bill because it will save 40 billion dollars in agriculture spending instead of contributing it to new farm services.

4. Identifiable special interests/lobbying or public interest, political ideologies, agendas

There were around 600 companies that had influences on the farm bill over the 2 years when it was being written. Almost all of these companies spent five hundred thousand dollars in trying to influence this bill. That resulted in a lot of change to the bill because they were all lobbying for similar and different things throughout it. A lot of wall street companies were involved in spending during the 2 year period such as Fortune 500 who was worried about global hunger.

5. Relatedness to course material

I found this to be related to the course in various ways. One way is that we learn about lobbyists and there are many that influenced this bill. Another way it is related is the California section of the book. California is the one of the largest producers of commodities and this bill affects many farmers across California. It also affects health laws all across the nation due to government regulation on food.

6. Identify additional questions, subsidiary issues or implications

There a various questions that could be asked with this topic. One question is how will the government enforce these new regulations pertaining to health? Parts of the bill are related to making food healthier but how do we know if these food are actually healthier for us to eat. Another question is how much did the lobbyists influence the bill? Since there was so many of them did they make a lot of changes to benefit themselves and their companies?

7. Annotated Bibliography

Lowe, P. (2014, July 14). Lobbyists of all kinds flock to Farm Bill. Retrieved October 21, 2016, from http://investigatemidwest.org/2014/07/14/lobbyists-of-all-kinds-flock-to-farm-bill/

This is an articles that discusses various lobbyists that influenced the farm bill. It shows how much some companies spent to get their ideas in the bill. Many companies spent a lot of money which had to influence the bill and that in turn could be good or bad for the public.

Nixon, R. (2013, June 17). Opposition to House Farm Bill. Retrieved October 21, 2016, from http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/17/opposition-to-house-farm-bill-spans-political-spectrum/?_r=0

This is from the New York Times and shows who and why people are opposed to the farm bill. It gives a list of some of the major opposers of the bill. They oppose if for many reasons but one of the main reasons these companies oppose this bill is because they will lose money for their programs regarding food.

Wallace, S. (2014, February 7). The Farm Bill. Retrieved October 21, 2016, from http://www.ers.usda.gov/agricultural-act-of-2014-highlights-and-implications.aspx

This a an article from USDA that gives background on the Farm Bill. It shows what is has gone through over the 2 years it was being revised and why it was rejected in 2012. It also gives insight into what the bill has in it.

Topic: The Cigarette Tax

Brief Overview

Proposition 56, or the cigarette tax is looking to increase taxing cigarettes by 2 dollars. This would add on to the 87 cents that our already taxed meaning each pack of cigarettes will now cost the regular price plus 2 dollars and 87 cents. This was brought to idea after california changed the age of buying tobacco to 21. This will be voted on November 8, 2016 with the other propositions in california.

2. Personal Interests

This doesn’t have any personal connection to me but it does matter to a lot of people in the state and even across the country. For instance if someone who smokes in Montana were to travel to California and wanted to buy cigarettes they would most likely think twice before they did because of how expensive it would