60 Minutes to run Snake river salmon "Expose" this Sunday.: Steelheader.net- Steelhead, Salmon and trout fishing

Apparently, we missed these shows?

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/23/eveningnews/main4124892.shtml?source=search_story#ccmm

Salmon Fishermen Reeling In Your Tax $$

CBS) The salmon population is mysteriously dwindling in California and Oregon.

It's gotten so bad, fishing has been closed for the season and the government has even declared a "disaster."

But help is on the way. For the second year in a row, hard-hit fishermen and businesses will get cold, hard cash to make up for their losses.

But it's not just to put food on the table and keep a roof overhead - this may be among the most generous aid packages ever to come from Congress. And you're paying for it.

Consider that the lost salmon catch amounts to $22 million dollars. Federal officials put the economic ripple effect including businesses like charter boats and ice houses at $82 million.

But taxpayers are being forced to shell out $174 million. That's on top of $60 million given out last year.

The salmon bail-out is so huge, it might not have survived debate in Congress. But it didn't have to, thanks to California's own Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi. She used her clout as Speaker of the House to insert the massive salmon relief into the Farm Bill as an earmark without a vote.

But what's really flipping out critics ... is how it works: Fishermen and business owners get to pick their "best" year, from 2002 to 2005, when they made the most money off salmon, and they get a check for that entire amount.

"You get to literally cherry pick through your earnings over the past five years and pick the best one," said Tim Phillips of the group Americans for Prosperity. "Just another example of how out-of-control this thing is."

And they aren't just poor fishermen struggling to make ends meet.

Some of them got more than $100,000 in salmon-relief last year - and will get a six-figure check again this year ... all at taxpayer expense. Compare that to what Katrina victims got: less than $2,500 per average household.

Pelosi was unavailable, but we spoke to her colleague, California Congressman Mike Thompson, who helped craft the earmark.

"Well, they need an income to keep the wolves away from the door," Thompson said.

"Is it really 'emergency' aid if somebody gets $200,000 or more in cash payments from the federal government for not catching fish?" Attkisson asked.

"It's emergency aid because they lost their ability to go out and make a living.

There are other fish in the sea, and some salmon fishermen are switching to other catches to earn a living ... yet still reeling it in ... for what they didn't catch.

And...

Money Up The River?

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/05/23/couricandco/entry4124539.shtml

They're definitely having salmon troubles in California, Oregon and Washington State. No doubt about that.

The question many are asking, though, has to do with the massive relief plan that aims to help ... and the way it was snuck into the Farm Bill without congressional debate. The $170 million salmon bail-out was added to the Farm Bill by California's own congresswoman, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. That's on top of $60 million provided by Congress to the Pacific salmon industry last year. Consider that the "lost catch" for the $60 million in relief was $16 million.

This year, the "lost catch" is estimated at $22 million, but they'll be getting a whopping $170 million in relief. Some digging around revealed there aren't all that many folks who fish for salmon, even in a good year. So where is all that money going? It turns out it does a lot more than just put emergency food in the mouths of fishermen who are living on the edge.

There is no means test to receive the salmon relief. In other words, somebody could own a charter boat, be making a ton of money on other catches, yet still qualify for a check from the federal government. In some cases, a very big check ... for six figures. In some cases, two years in a row. Under the salmon-relief program, fishermen and business owners are guaranteed 100 percent of their income as compared to the best recent year they've had! Even some of Pelosi's colleagues in her own party expressed outrage to me over this type of massive earmark, given out to a small number of fishermen and business owners in her home state, with no congressional debate. (They didn't want to appear on camera for fear of publicly opposing their leader). They point out that folks are hurting all over the country: home builders, auto workers, you name it. But nobody is tapping them on the shoulder and saying, "pick your best year and the federal government will write you a check to make up for what you're not earning now."

So, all things considered, the Pacific salmon industry should consider itself pretty lucky. The rest of America ... well, maybe they're not so lucky. Because they're paying the bill.

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"Don't fall in!" Doug Richert Sr. 10/18/2008