"Congress may pass a new five-year Farm Bill this summer. On agricultural issues at least, a bipartisan spirit of compromise appears to be building in some sectors of Capitol Hill. If that continues to blossom, then America’s taxpayers and consumers will again be forced to provide a needless crutch for many American farmers.".................
......Which farmers get crop insurance subsidies? Who knows?
Since at least 2000, the federal government has hidden from public view the names of crop insurance subsidy recipients.
In 2011, 26 farms each received more than $1 million in taxpayer-funded crop subsidy premiums, according to data provided by the Environmental Working Group"'.................
..............."Keep Food Legal, the nonpartisan nonprofit I lead, is currently taking a hard look at the bipartisan politics behind the Farm Bill for a forthcoming report we anticipate releasing later this year.
As I noted in an earlier column, one of several I’ve written on the Farm Bill, our early research indicates that GOP-dominated states and GOP districts in Democratic-dominated states appear to “grab an outsized share of subsidies, and that this share represents a huge overall percentage of USDA subsidy payments.”
Our report, tentatively titled Compromising the Farm: The Politics of Farm Subsidies, will include in its findings the fact that an overwhelming majority of congressional districts receiving direct farm payment subsidies in recent years were represented by GOP congressman."...................
You have to love the farm bill. 80% for food stamps welfare. And the other 20% corporate farm welfare. Plus by not charging the correct premiums for crop insurance it inspires farmers to grow in riskier areas like flood plains and unirrigated marginal land.
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
