Changes

In the two years of the first AAA’s existence it distributed some $700 million to farmers to restrict production and keep farm prices high.

In the two years of the first AAA’s existence it distributed some $700 million to farmers to restrict production and keep farm prices high.

The first AAA was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the case [http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct-cgi/get-us-cite?297+1 United States v. Butler ''et al''. (297 U.S. 1, January 6, 1936)] because it gave too much power to the Executive branch. In 1937 Congress then rewrote the law, creating a '''second AAA''' that achieved part of the original Act's goals with the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act of 1936 until the enactment of a second AAA (P.L. 75-430) on February 16, 1938. This second AAA was funded from general taxation, and therefore acceptable to the Supreme Court. It represented a bipartisan approach, as did the addition of an "ever normal granary" program in 1938.  By 1940 Republicans and Democrats were in general agreement on farm policy. During World War II, all restrictions were ended and farmers were encouraged to plant as much as possible. However there was a price cap—100% parity—which angered farmers who saw a bonanza if their prices had been allowed to skyrocket.

The first AAA was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the case [http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct-cgi/get-us-cite?297+1 United States v. Butler ''et al''. (297 U.S. 1, January 6, 1936)] because it gave too much power to the Executive branch. In 1937 Congress then rewrote the law, creating a '''second AAA''' that achieved part of the original Act's goals with the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act of 1936 until the enactment of a second AAA (P.L. 75-430) on February 16, 1938. This second AAA was funded from general taxation, and therefore acceptable to the Supreme Court. It represented a bipartisan approach, as did the addition of an "ever normal granary" program in 1938.  By 1940 Republicans and Democrats were in general agreement on farm policy. During World War II, all restrictions were ended and farmers were encouraged to plant as much as possible. However, there was a price cap—100% parity—which angered farmers who saw a bonanza if their prices had been allowed to skyrocket.

Under the 1938 iteration of the AAA, the government in 1940 ordered an Ohio farmer, Roscoe Filburn, to destroy his crop and pay a large fine to the federal government, as Filburn's wheat output had exceeded his government "allotment." Filburn appealed to the [[Supreme Court]] in the case known as ''[[Wickard v. Filburn]]'', but under threat of Roosevelt's "court packing" scheme, the court buckled, ruling in 1942 that growing crops on one's own land, to feed one's own chickens, was "interstate commerce"—though it was neither "commerce" nor "interstate." Nevertheless, this ruling established that the Interstate Commerce Clause of the Constitution empowered the government to dictate how much an American citizen could produce on his own property, for his own use. Richard Epstein, Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law at New York University, comments:

Under the 1938 iteration of the AAA, the government in 1940 ordered an Ohio farmer, Roscoe Filburn, to destroy his crop and pay a large fine to the federal government, as Filburn's wheat output had exceeded his government "allotment." Filburn appealed to the [[Supreme Court]] in the case known as ''[[Wickard v. Filburn]]'', but under threat of Roosevelt's "court packing" scheme, the court buckled, ruling in 1942 that growing crops on one's own land, to feed one's own chickens, was "interstate commerce"—though it was neither "commerce" nor "interstate." Nevertheless, this ruling established that the Interstate Commerce Clause of the Constitution empowered the government to dictate how much an American citizen could produce on his own property, for his own use. Richard Epstein, Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law at New York University, comments:

In response to a query about candidates for employment at AAA, [[Lee Pressman]], a [[Soviet]] operative already serving as Wallace's assistant general counsel at the agency, wrote, "I have talked to Alger Hiss and [[Nathan Witt|Nat Witt]] who are considering" taking posts at AAA (Hiss would later deny under oath that he had discussed the position with Pressman).<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=YRyoAAAAIAAJ&pgis=1 Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case]'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 133</ref>

In response to a query about candidates for employment at AAA, [[Lee Pressman]], a [[Soviet]] operative already serving as Wallace's assistant general counsel at the agency, wrote, "I have talked to Alger Hiss and [[Nathan Witt|Nat Witt]] who are considering" taking posts at AAA (Hiss would later deny under oath that he had discussed the position with Pressman).<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=YRyoAAAAIAAJ&pgis=1 Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case]'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 133</ref>

At AAA, Hiss reunited with [[Henry Collins]], a Soviet operative, as well as International Juridical Association (IJA)<ref>The International Juridical Association (IJA) was a [[Communist front]] organization which "consistently followed the [[Communist Party]] line." [http://ia360638.us.archive.org/2/items/reportonnational1950unit/reportonnational1950unit.pdf Report on the National Lawyers Guild, legal bulwark of the Communist Party]," Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, United States Congress (1950), p. 12</ref> collegue Pressman,<ref>Pressman joined the [[Communist Party]] [http://homepages.nyu.edu/~th15/pressmanx.html about this time]</ref>  and  [[Nathan Witt|Witt]] (who would be identified as a fellow [[Communist]] by Pressman),<ref>Whittaker Chambers, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=xrqbAAAACAAJ Witness]'' [Washington: Regnery, 1952] ISBN 0895267896, p. 612</ref> and [http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/8-5testimony.html became acquainted] with [http://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/13/nyregion/john-j-abt-lawyer-dies-at-87-communist-party-counsel-in-us.html secret Communist] [[John Abt]] and [http://www.theamericanscholar.org/the-mystery-of-ales-2/3/ the Communist]<ref>John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=pNwEyL1b6XQC Early Cold War Spies: The Espionage Trials That Shaped American Politics]'' (Cambridge University Press, 2006) ISBN 0521857384, p. 94</ref> [[Harold Ware]]&mdash;recently returned from several years in the [[Soviet Union]], where he had been instrumental in the organization of [http://mars.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/stalin/lectures/WarCom.html collective farms].<ref>[[Harold Ware|Ware]], the son of [http://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/findaids/sophiasmith/mnsss8_bioghist.html American Communist Party founder] [[Ella Reeve Bloor|"Mother" Bloor]], reportedly "tricked" Soviet peasants into collective farms (Deborah Kay Fitzgerald, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=nQMNb6nGmPsC Every Farm a Factory: The Industrial Ideal in American Agriculture]'' [New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003] ISBN 0300088132, p. 161), for which he was [http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1922/oct/20b.htm praised by Lenin], that praise repeated by [[Stalin]] (J.V. Stalin, ''[http://www.marx2mao.com/PDFs/StWorks11.pdf Works, Vol. 11: 1928-March 1929]'' [Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1954], pp. 195-196.)</ref>

At AAA, Hiss reunited with [[Henry Collins]], a Soviet operative, as well as International Juridical Association (IJA)<ref>The International Juridical Association (IJA) was a [[Communist front]] organization which "consistently followed the [[Communist Party]] line." [http://ia360638.us.archive.org/2/items/reportonnational1950unit/reportonnational1950unit.pdf Report on the National Lawyers Guild, legal bulwark of the Communist Party]," Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, United States Congress (1950), p. 12</ref> colleague Pressman,<ref>Pressman joined the [[Communist Party]] [http://homepages.nyu.edu/~th15/pressmanx.html about this time]</ref>  and  [[Nathan Witt|Witt]] (who would be identified as a fellow [[Communist]] by Pressman),<ref>Whittaker Chambers, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=xrqbAAAACAAJ Witness]'' [Washington: Regnery, 1952] ISBN 0895267896, p. 612</ref> and [http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/8-5testimony.html became acquainted] with [http://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/13/nyregion/john-j-abt-lawyer-dies-at-87-communist-party-counsel-in-us.html secret Communist] [[John Abt]] and [http://www.theamericanscholar.org/the-mystery-of-ales-2/3/ the Communist]<ref>John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=pNwEyL1b6XQC Early Cold War Spies: The Espionage Trials That Shaped American Politics]'' (Cambridge University Press, 2006) ISBN 0521857384, p. 94</ref> [[Harold Ware]]&mdash;recently returned from several years in the [[Soviet Union]], where he had been instrumental in the organization of [http://mars.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/stalin/lectures/WarCom.html collective farms].<ref>[[Harold Ware|Ware]], the son of [http://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/findaids/sophiasmith/mnsss8_bioghist.html American Communist Party founder] [[Ella Reeve Bloor|"Mother" Bloor]], reportedly "tricked" Soviet peasants into collective farms (Deborah Kay Fitzgerald, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=nQMNb6nGmPsC Every Farm a Factory: The Industrial Ideal in American Agriculture]'' [New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003] ISBN 0300088132, p. 161), for which he was [http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1922/oct/20b.htm praised by Lenin], that praise repeated by [[Stalin]] (J.V. Stalin, ''[http://www.marx2mao.com/PDFs/StWorks11.pdf Works, Vol. 11: 1928-March 1929]'' [Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1954], pp. 195-196.)</ref>

Even before the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] would learn of [[Whittaker Chambers]]' charges, one of Hiss' colleagues at the AAA would tip off FBI investigators that Hiss and his circle were [[fellow traveller|fellow travelers]], if not Communists.<ref>FBI memorandum: Ladd to Hoover, January 28, 1949, p. 2 (FBI file: Hiss-Chambers, Vol. 44)</ref> In February 1935, the "[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/hisschronology.html radicals]" [http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,748453,00.html were "purged"] from AAA. According to New Dealer [http://lts.brandeis.edu/research/archives-speccoll/findingguides/xml/jackson.html Gardner Jackson]:

Even before the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] would learn of [[Whittaker Chambers]]' charges, one of Hiss' colleagues at the AAA would tip off FBI investigators that Hiss and his circle were [[fellow traveller|fellow travelers]], if not Communists.<ref>FBI memorandum: Ladd to Hoover, January 28, 1949, p. 2 (FBI file: Hiss-Chambers, Vol. 44)</ref> In February 1935, the "[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/hisschronology.html radicals]" [http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,748453,00.html were "purged"] from AAA. According to New Dealer [http://lts.brandeis.edu/research/archives-speccoll/findingguides/xml/jackson.html Gardner Jackson]: