Dear HCN,
If the administration and
Congress want to reform the welfare program, they should not
overlook ranchers that graze livestock on federal
lands.
Some of the richest people in the United
States are welfare ranchers: William Hewlett and David Packard, of
Hewlett-Packard Co., the computer manufacturing giant, graze cattle
on more than 94,000 acres of BLM land in Idaho.
The man receiving the biggest handout is
probably J.R. Simplot, the Idaho potato king. He grazes thousands
of cattle at welfare prices on federal lands in Idaho and Oregon.
Will wealthy ranchers be dropped from the welfare system, or are
“reformers’ just talking about the little people, those that do not
contribute to election campaigns? Taxpayers, stay
tuned!
Bob
Phillips
Portland,
Oregon
The writer is Oregon
coordinator of Rest The
West.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Welfare kings.
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