December 15, 2010
The juggernaut rolls forward still. The number of claimants is now around 94,000. Last Wednesday, Barack Obama signed into law H.R. 4783, which pays $1.25 billion in compensation to black “farmers” (and $3.4 billion to Indians alleged to have been cheated out of oil, gas, and timber royalties). The payout to black farmers comes on top of $1 billion paid out in a previous tranche 11 years ago.
That this monstrosity got through Congress”the House vote was 256-152″is testimony to the cowardice of our representatives, few of whom were willing to speak out against payouts, however patently bogus, to blacks on discrimination claims. Honorable exceptions were Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R”Minn.) and Rep. Steve King (R”Iowa). Bachmann had this to say in the House on November 29:
I urge my colleagues to consider what the Claims Settlement Act truly presents before voting on the bill this week. This legislation includes over a billion dollars to settle the Pigford II discrimination claims with black farmers. Unfortunately, Pigford is rife with fraudulent claims, and to settle before an investigation can take place does the American taxpayer a disservice. Justice should be served to those who experienced discrimination, but settlement funds should only go to those wronged.
Even that is too much of a concession to Pigford’s bogusness. It is unlikely anyone was “wronged” in any sense that could be proved using traditional courtroom tort standards. Senate Republicans contented themselves with trying”unsuccessfully, of course”to cut down the attorneys’ fees in the Indian case from $100 million to $50 million.
Signing H.R. 4783 into law on Wednesday, the president said the following shameful thing:
While I am pleased that this Act reflects important progress, much work remains to be done to address other claims of past discrimination made by women and Hispanic farmers against the Department of Agriculture as well as to address needs of tribal communities.
Yes: Not only women and Hispanics, but Asian-Americans, too, have little Pigfords”Pigfordlets, as it were”underway. No doubt there will soon be gay Pigfords, disabled Pigfords, Muslim Pigfords, Hmong Pigfords, Satanist Pigfords, NAMBLA Pigfords, and numerous others in the works. Each will provide years of work to battalions of lawyers and federal bureaucrats. Each will cost the nation billions”billions of dollars sluicing out of the Treasury into the pockets of anyone who can wave an affidavit signed by his next-door neighbor”anyone, of course, except straight white Christian males.
But why should we complain? This is “important progress.” The president said so.
