Advocates of limited government agree that federal spending is out of control. Even the fiercest budget hawks often balk, however, when they’re asked which specific budget cuts they support.
Here’s one: farm subsidies. These artifacts of the Great Depression, aside from being unconstitutional, have outlived any usefulness their supporters attribute to them. With the U.S. Senate set to debate a new farm bill this week, now is the perfect time to begin a return to fiscal sanity.
As JLF’s Fergus Hodgson has pointed out, farm subsidies cost American taxpayers over $260 billion between 1995 and 2010. What have our hard-earned dollars bought?
Nothing useful. Contrary to popular myth, farm subsidies typically benefit major agriculture corporations rather than small, down-on-their-luck farmers. In fact, about 75 percent of these subsidies go to only 10 percent of farmers. Wouldn’t our money be better spent elsewhere?
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the farm bill currently being considered in the Senate would save taxpayers $23.6 billion over ten years. That’s a start (albeit a tiny one), but the bill still includes crop insurance schemes and entitlements that will distort farm production and food prices. Nixing the whole bill would be a far better solution.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. If the United States hopes to avoid the fate of Greece, Spain, and other debt-ridden disasters in Europe, it has to finally get serious about slashing government spending. Useless farm subsidies are an excellent place to start.
