Farm Subsidies and Congress

Here's something we 'common-folk' don't hear much about. Farm subsidies. This is a nifty little group of programs that someone came up with to pay farmers to not grow certain crops. We should all be farmers so we can get in on this gravy train.

It turns out that many members of congress receive USDA subsidies. I wonder if somewhere in a new-congress-members 'welcome packet' is a form for them to fill out so they can be sure to 'hook themselves up' with this lucrative benefit.

Anyway, sometime during 2007, Congress will get a chance to reauthorize this legislation and will likely be able to vote on its passage. Wouldn't you like to be in a position to vote on whether or not you get to keep a financial benefit, especially when it involves doing nothing on your part? And, these guys get paid to vote on this! Incredible! Is this a great country or what!?!

What this means to you and me, the taxpayers who get to foot the $35 billion annual bill for these 'benefits', is that our standard of living gets to be reduced even further by the higher taxes needed to fund these farm programs and by the higher food prices caused by agriculture subsidies, and the related unproductive restrictions, and regulations.

Although politicians love to discuss the plight of small farmers, the vast majority of farm subsidies go to the largest farms. In recent years, the biggest 10 percent of farm businesses have received 72 percent of farm subsidies, according to the Environmental Working Group.

In most industries, market prices balance supply and demand and encourage efficient production. But Congress short–circuits market mechanisms in agriculture which damages the economy. Farm programs cause overproduction, the overuse of marginal farmland, land price inflation and excess borrowing by farm businesses.

As with any government backed subsidy there is fraud, the Government Accountability Office found that improper farm payments amount to as much as $500 million each year. Since 2000, the government has paid $1.3 billion in subsidies to people who own "farmland" that is not even used for farming. The government also frequently distributes disaster payments to farmers who don't need them and often didn't even ask for them.

Some farm programs raise food prices and hurt consumers directly. Federal controls on the dairy industry raise milk prices to consumers. Controls on the sugar industry raise U.S. sugar prices to about twice the world level, pushing up consumer costs for breakfast cereals, chocolate and other food products.

For a long list of reasons why farm subsidies should be banned, click here. As someone who is a direct victim of this unconscionable blood-letting I am appalled that our representatives in congress are taking advantage of this gross misuse of taxpayer dollars for their own personal gain.

These programs need to be abolished immediately. But guess who is going to vote on abolishing them. That's right, the very people who benefit from not abolishing them. Can you say conflict of interest?

A little history is in order, many of these programs were enacted during the Great Depression of the 1930’s and others at times when the U.S. farmers' over-production caused a drop in the price that the farmer could get for their crops. As a result of the lower market prices and other factors farmers were loosing their farms. The creation of these programs, while designed with the best of intentions, no longer work in today’s more prosperous and dynamic economy. It has been taken advantage of by the very people who put it into place and therefore congress has no incentive to discontinue these programs.

Members of Congress who benefit from this program financially should either recuse themselves from voting on any farm legislation or forgo any farm subsidies for which they and their families and relatives would be eligible. But, since we are dealing with American politicians, we all know that they will simply find a solution that will allow them to keep this ‘golden egg’ while giving the appearance to the general public that they have somehow sacrificed. This is why abolishing these programs is the only answer.

If you would like to see a list of those congressional members and organizations receiving these free subsidies check it out here.