It’s hard to be surprise by bad policy that comes out of government, yet somehow I am still amazed that Congress would be preparing to pass another farm bill complete with giveaways for millionares in the agriculture businesses (it isn’t really appropriate to call many of these folks “farmers”). As an editorial in the Sacramento Bee describes:
Given that big growers and commodity corporations are enjoying the windfall – and experts say these price spikes are not just a temporary “blip” – you might think that Congress would want to pass a farm bill that reflects current realities.
Nope.
Congress is close to approving another five-year farm bill that would cost the treasury about $300 billion. A good chunk of this funding – about $5.2 billion a year – will be in the form of “direct payment” subsidies to growers of corn and other crops, including some growers who are millionaires….
Will Congress ever reform the farm bill? Possibly, but not while powerful commodity interests have a lock on leaders of both parties, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Until that changes, Amercians will continue to pay twice for their food – once at the grocery store and once in their federal tax returns.
Politicians always say they are concerned about the middleclass and rising prices, but apparently that doesn’t extent to issues like this one.