Subsidize This!

The President has proposed to eliminate $17 Billion from a multitude of government programs that are obviously wasteful. This figure represents a mere one half of one percent of next year’s budget; and yet our wise and generous leaders in the House and Senate are actually working to prevent these cuts from happening.

Though he is not the only guilty party (as evidenced here), Congressman Mike Ross (D-Ark) stated that he would oppose “any cuts” in agriculture subsidies because “farmers and farm families depend on this federal assistance”.

Wow.

My first thought was that Congress simply needs to be reminded of what a subsidy is; because nobody who knows its definition could possibly subscribe to a theory that proposes to preserve a subsidy ad infinitum simply because its recipients have grown to "depend on this federal assistance”.

So let's make it clear; Webster defines a subsidy as “a grant by a government to a private person or company to assist an enterprise deemed advantageous to the public”.

So for the benefit of those ill informed, misguided souls like myself, would someone please tell me how exactly the subsidies received by farmers in Arkansas' 4^th Congressional District is advantageous to the public? This is a federal subsidy, so the “public” in this conversation includes everyone who pays federal taxes. Seems to me that if it's that important to Arkansas, then Arkansas should raise it's state tax to cover the cost and leave the rest of us out of it.

Hey New York…enjoying that hefty return on your farming investment in Arkansas? How about you Los Angeles? No? I didn’t think so.

If the litmus test for subsidizing something is simply having grown accustomed to a particular financial result, then one could argue the Government should have subsidized the AIG bonuses instead of trying to tax them away; those investment bankers have grown to depend on those bonuses you know.

If Congress is going to apply stupid logic to one group they should at least be consistent.

If you really want to know what these farm subsidies YOU are funding actually accomplish, you can learn more right here.

I wonder if Congress would support a government subsidy designed to bring my income level back to its pre-recession level…after all, I had grown to depend on it.