Downsizing Govt Spending: Agriculture

With massive budget deficits looming due to our poor govt spending choices recently, we as a nation are going to have to cut the fat now so we won’t have to cut muscle or bone later. This is an excellent video produced by The Cato Institute describing why the Department of Agriculture has done us as taxpayers no favors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBZgyaA9Ryw

Some of the highlights include:

*Farming is the most coddled industry in the U.S. - the # of farms has plummeted from 1900 to now while the # of employees at the Dept of Agriculture has exploded. In 1900 there were 6 million farms and 3,000 Dept of Ag workers. Today there are 2 million farms and over 100,000 Dept of Ag employees.

* There are over 200 subsidy programs today, however 90% of which go to corn, cotton, rice, soybeans and wheat.

*The average farmer earns 28% more than the average non-farm U.S. family: $86k annually for the farmer vs. $67k for a non-farm family.

*In 2008 there were $95 billion in farm subsidies.

*US companies have left the U.S. (Brach’s and Lifesavers) because of the sugar import barrier. Sugar in the U.S. costs twice as much as it does in the world market.

Friends of mine casually complain about the corn mafia, how the producers of corn syrup have cost us precious dollars and much of our health, all with the Dept of Ag’s blessing and our taxes. We should eliminate farm subsidies and force the Dept of Agriculture to downsize considerably. The farm subsidies are not protecting our food supply when they are largely going toward that which makes us unhealthy. Anyone can grow vegetables in their yard, or in their community gardens, and increasingly, people are.

Those of you who know me well know that I’m all for most government downsizing, but this one seems to be a no-brainer. Why do we subsidize people who cost us more in the short and long run and earn more than us anyway? Corn Street needs to stand on its own as much as Wall Street does.