Can Farm Subsidies Be Cut?
In his MSNBC column, Glenn Reynolds takes up the cause. Who's next? Maybe Hugh Hewitt (your one-stop source for Easongate coverage) would like to hit the LAT for its negative take on the subject. Unlike the NYT, the LAT didn't bother to include the international or environmental angles. God forbid Westside liberals might hear something good about the Bush administration.
I remember when Barney Frank and Dick Armey used to team up on this issue, for all the good it did. Beating back the welfare queens of agribusiness takes more than a couple of congressional iconoclasts. For one thing, it requires senators.
UPDATE: Fritz Schranck of Sneaking Suspicions weighs in. Data from his state back up charges that subsidies go to only a small percentage of farmers: "The Environmental Working Group's subsidy pages for Delaware show that in 2003, over $17 million in USDA payments went to over 1500 recipients, and that about 26% of all Delaware farms received some kind of federal payment. Only one such entity received over $250,000; however, the EWG notes that their database has its own limitations, and it's probably safe to assume that the actual number of those given more than $250 large is more than the one shown in that report."