Farm Bill must not subsidize Big Ag at the expense of children and the poor
San Jose Mercury News Editorial, 4/15/12
2011 was a great year for corn farmers. Record-high prices. A record-high volume of 14 billion bushels produced. It was such a remarkable year that farmers are expected to plant 94 million acres of corn in 2012 -- 18 million more than in 2010. More corn will be planted in the United States in 2012 than in any year since World War II.
So have the record prices and yields made Midwestern farmers and Big Ag happy? No, no, no. When Congress takes up the 2012 Farm Bill on Monday, their wails for subsidies will be as loud as ever.
Don't worry. House Republicans will dry their tears. When lawmakers went looking for ways to reduce the Farm Bill's five-year budget, they went easy on corn growers and instead sharpened their machetes for -- get this -- food assistance and school lunch programs for the poor.
Really. Of the proposed $180 billion cuts in the House Farm Bill, $133 billion comes from the food stamp program. An additional 8 million poor American adults and children would go hungry. But hey, the corn growers will be fat and happy. What's important?
full: http://www.mercurynews.com/editorials/ci_20399333
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