Farm Subsidies

President Obama's 2012 budget plan calls for the elimination of more than $5 billion in public support for agricultural programs, including subsidies to the wealthiest U.S. farmers. On Monday, Obama signaled that his administration wants to shift federal dollars away from farm programs, setting up a battle between the White House and legislators from agricultural states. It will also test the political will of some Republican and "tea party" lawmakers from rural districts who have vowed to trim federal spending.

Are farm subsidies making us fat? Billions in taxpayer dollars are going to support high fructose corn syrup and three other common food additives used in junk food, according to a report released this week by the California Public Interest Research Group and the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, both consumer advocacy groups. The report, "Apples to Twinkies: Comparing Federal Subsidies of Fresh Produce and Junk Food," makes the case that federal farm subsidies are helping feed the nation's obesity epidemic.

Are farm subsidies making us fat? Billions in taxpayer dollars are going to support high fructose corn syrup and three other common food additives used in junk food, according to a report released this week by the California Public Interest Research Group and the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, both consumer advocacy groups. The report, "Apples to Twinkies: Comparing Federal Subsidies of Fresh Produce and Junk Food," makes the case that federal farm subsidies are helping feed the nation's obesity epidemic.

Despite repeatedly asserting that she has never received income from a family farm that drew federal subsidies in the past, Rep. Michele Bachmann again listed the farm as a source of income when she filed her 2010 personal financial disclosures late last week. Bachmann also reported that the farm had more than doubled in value since 2009.  The Independence, Wis., farm, Bachmann Farm Family LP, received nearly $260,000 in federal subsidies between 1995 and 2008. At the time, the farm was owned by Bachmann's father-in-law, Paul Bachmann, who died in May 2009.  Michele Bachmann, her husband, Marcus, and their children are "limited, minority partners" in the farm, according to Bachmann spokeswoman Alice Stewart.

Sometime in the next few days, President Clinton will take pen in hand to do something quite remarkable in the annals of Washington--eliminate a longstanding federal spending program. Clinton's signature will repeal the subsidy for wool and mohair producers, which has been on the books for nearly 40 years and has successfully resisted repeated attempts to erase it from the federal ledger.

President Bush just signed a $190-billion farm subsidy bill guaranteeing higher subsidies to Midwest and Southern farmers, where key political races will decide which party controls Congress next year, and putting additional bucks onto large corporate-farm profit lines (May 14). At the same time, President Bush is trying to again cut Medicare payments to doctors, hospitals and other care providers in an attempt to cover some prescription drug costs. Once again, party-politics dollars given to a few win out over the need for a better medical care system for all U.S. citizens.

When Mexico and the United States were entering a landmark free trade agreement 16 years ago, one thing was clear: Mexican farmers would initially find it difficult to compete with heavily subsidized U.S. agricultural products. The solution: Mexico created a special fund to dole out cash to the poorest and smallest farmers. Somewhere along the way, something went wrong. Today, the fund -- far from helping the neediest -- is providing large financial subsidies to the families of notorious drug traffickers and several senior government officials, including the agriculture minister.

Re "The world's other crisis," editorial, July 26 To lament global poverty while later implicating U.S. farm subsidies, not only as the culprit in the collapse of the World Trade Organization negotiations but as harming "every American taxpayer and consumer," indicates a lack of understanding of the issues. U.S. farm subsidies originate from the Dust Bowl era, when famine was a real possibility. They ensure sufficient production of grains by guaranteeing that farmers will receive a minimum "floor price."

The U.S. and its debt Re "Stocks plunge worldwide," Aug. 9 President Obama may insist that Standard & Poor's was wrong in its credit risk assessment and that the U.S. is still an AAA country. Yet House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) remarked that that the S&P downgrade is the "the latest consequence of out-of-control spending that has taken place in Washington for decades. " Even China has communicated that "the U.S. government has to come to terms with the painful fact that the good old days when it could just borrow its way out of messes of its own making are finally gone.

Rep. Michele Bachmann deflected allegations Sunday that she and her immediate family had benefited from government assistance despite her demands to cut the federal budget, saying hundreds of thousands of dollars for her family farm and a counseling clinic went to employees and her in-laws. "My husband and I did not get the money," the Minnesota Republican said on Sunday news shows one day before officially opening her presidential campaign in Waterloo, Iowa — her birthplace. The Los Angeles Times reported Sunday that Bachmann, a "tea party" favorite, had benefited from government funds and federal farm subsidies.

Rep. Michele Bachmann has been propelled into the 2012 presidential contest in part by her insistent calls to reduce federal spending, a pitch in tune with the big-government antipathy gripping many conservatives. But theMinnesota Republican and her family have benefited personally from government aid, an examination of her record and finances shows. A counseling clinic run by her husband has received nearly $30,000 from the state ofMinnesota in the last five years, money that in part came from the federal government.

President Obama's 2012 budget plan calls for the elimination of more than $5 billion in public support for agricultural programs, including subsidies to the wealthiest U.S. farmers. On Monday, Obama signaled that his administration wants to shift federal dollars away from farm programs, setting up a battle between the White House and legislators from agricultural states. It will also test the political will of some Republican and "tea party" lawmakers from rural districts who have vowed to trim federal spending.

When Mexico and the United States were entering a landmark free trade agreement 16 years ago, one thing was clear: Mexican farmers would initially find it difficult to compete with heavily subsidized U.S. agricultural products. The solution: Mexico created a special fund to dole out cash to the poorest and smallest farmers. Somewhere along the way, something went wrong. Today, the fund -- far from helping the neediest -- is providing large financial subsidies to the families of notorious drug traffickers and several senior government officials, including the agriculture minister.

A proposal to cut government subsidies to large farms puts President Obama at odds with some of the most powerful interests within the farm lobby, which fought off President George W. Bush's similar efforts even when Republicans controlled Congress. Last year Congress defeated a plan to limit annual farm subsidy payments to $250,000 -- a plan closely resembling Obama's. Obama also calls for eliminating one type of subsidy to farms with sales of more than $500,000 a year.

Congress sent a $290-billion farm bill to President Bush for a second time, in an effort to fix a printing error that has threatened the delivery of U.S. food aid abroad. To ensure that the aid continues amid a global hunger crisis, Congress and Bush were planning to again pass, veto and enact the bill to provide farm subsidies, food stamps and other nutrition programs over the next five years. Bush had vetoed the bill two weeks ago and the House and Senate overrode him. But a 34-page section extending the international aid programs had been omitted from the copy sent to the White House.