Chris
05-20-2013, 11:59 AM
Crony crapitalism is alive and well...
Despite all the promises of frugality in Washington, the newest version of the farm bill passed by the House boasts a pricetag near $1 trillion and manages to send plenty of subsidies back to influential special interests in lawmakers' home states.
It includes millions of dollars to peanut, cotton and milk producers, plus improved crop insurance to protect farmers, creating new fodder for critics who believe such direct aid to farmers keeps food prices artificially high at taxpayer expense.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., the chairwoman of the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, said the bill will both help farmers and improve the economy.
"Reforming agriculture programs will save taxpayers billions of dollars while helping Michigan farmers, ranchers and small businesses create jobs," she said.
But the Congressional Budget Office said in March it believes the current farm bill will save considerably less money than first thought. Last year, the CBO estimated that the Senate version of the bill could have reduced spending by $23.1 billion. Now that number has been reduced to $13.1 billion. Likewise, the House version was expected to save $35.1 billion, but that estimate has been rounded down to $26.6 billion.
In addition, the bill provides increases in crop insurance, designed to help maintain farmers’ wages against weather, plagues and other acts-of-God that can destroy the source of their income. But the insurance rates have been on the rise, according to information from the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit organization that tracks agricultural data.
Some farms are receiving almost $1 million in subsidies to purchase insurance, EWG said, but the bounty isn’t being shared by everyone. Just 20 percent of farms are getting roughly 75 percent of insurance subsidies, data shows.
That exposes a common misconception, said Daren Bakst, an agricultural expert at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think-tank.
“The agriculture sector is not this kind of vision of the small family farmer who’s struggling to make ends meet,” Bakst said. “It is high tech, it’s cutting edge, it’s innovative and people that are getting the benefits of subsidies are not the small family farmer. The winners are the large agricultural enterprises.”
@ A bill designed to help farmers is riddled with millions of dollars in giveaways (http://www.washingtonguardian.com/farming-tax-dollars)
Despite all the promises of frugality in Washington, the newest version of the farm bill passed by the House boasts a pricetag near $1 trillion and manages to send plenty of subsidies back to influential special interests in lawmakers' home states.
It includes millions of dollars to peanut, cotton and milk producers, plus improved crop insurance to protect farmers, creating new fodder for critics who believe such direct aid to farmers keeps food prices artificially high at taxpayer expense.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., the chairwoman of the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, said the bill will both help farmers and improve the economy.
"Reforming agriculture programs will save taxpayers billions of dollars while helping Michigan farmers, ranchers and small businesses create jobs," she said.
But the Congressional Budget Office said in March it believes the current farm bill will save considerably less money than first thought. Last year, the CBO estimated that the Senate version of the bill could have reduced spending by $23.1 billion. Now that number has been reduced to $13.1 billion. Likewise, the House version was expected to save $35.1 billion, but that estimate has been rounded down to $26.6 billion.
In addition, the bill provides increases in crop insurance, designed to help maintain farmers’ wages against weather, plagues and other acts-of-God that can destroy the source of their income. But the insurance rates have been on the rise, according to information from the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit organization that tracks agricultural data.
Some farms are receiving almost $1 million in subsidies to purchase insurance, EWG said, but the bounty isn’t being shared by everyone. Just 20 percent of farms are getting roughly 75 percent of insurance subsidies, data shows.
That exposes a common misconception, said Daren Bakst, an agricultural expert at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think-tank.
“The agriculture sector is not this kind of vision of the small family farmer who’s struggling to make ends meet,” Bakst said. “It is high tech, it’s cutting edge, it’s innovative and people that are getting the benefits of subsidies are not the small family farmer. The winners are the large agricultural enterprises.”
@ A bill designed to help farmers is riddled with millions of dollars in giveaways (http://www.washingtonguardian.com/farming-tax-dollars)