Farm Subsidy Fatalism

I appreciate where Kevin Drum's coming from here, but I wouldn't want to give in 100 percent to farm subsidy fatalism. Back in the 1990s, a Clinton administration that was serious about policy and a Gingrich-led congressional GOP that was pretty serious about reducing spending, produced an okay farm bill. The Bush administration and the Bush era congressional leadership then went back on the okay parts of that bill and promulgated a terrible farm bill.

But things could have gone otherwise. Had Al Gore been President of the United States it's pretty likely that they would have gone otherwise. Had the Republican nominee been somewhat serious about public policy it's pretty likely that things would have gone otherwise. The current political moment in the United States isn't incredibly favorable to the sort of cross-partisan technocratic initiative that would produce a saner agricultural policy, but that can change and even right now things aren't hopeless.

Photo by Flickr user Liberalmind1012 used under a Creative Commons license

Comments

Matt,

It has been more than three hours since you have cited one of Marty's Minions. Please, don't keep us hanging like this.

Posted by mrs. ibrahim al-jafaari | July 24, 2007 1:23 PM

Sorry MY, it IS hopeless for right now. Look at the political map. Neither party can afford / is willing to offend any of the farm state voters heading into a presidential election year. That means this year's farm bill will be a re-jiggered version of the status quo.

However, the future is looking a lot brighter for farm policy reform. In fact, the 2007 farm bill may well be the last gasp of the "old-style" commodity price supports, for a number of reasons, including--one party (the Democrats) is about to gain a significant electoral advantage, lessening the importance of the farm state votes; the imbalances in the price supports and the adverse effects they cause will simply be too egregious for the "family farm" mythology to cover up; the government's approaching budget crisis will greatly increase the pressure for reform, etc.

Posted by Claudius | July 24, 2007 1:42 PM

What exactly is a saner farm-subsidy policy? Simply reducing the amount of money going into the farm bill? Is there anything else to it or is that all we democrats have got?
Where, also, are these non-farm states? New York? California? Illinois?

Posted by berger | July 24, 2007 2:15 PM

There is some support among House Democrats to stop America's endless subsidies of the rural folks, but not much. After the Gingrich Congress passed a "sane" farm bill, they went back every year with special "emergency" funding to give back everything they'd taken away, and more. Under Tom Daschle, Congress passed profligate farm legislation, plus near-monthly "emergency" bail outs. The sad fact is, Republicans love writing checks for the rich, while the Democrats love writing checks for everyone.

Posted by Alan Vanneman | July 24, 2007 2:27 PM

What exactly is a saner farm-subsidy policy? Simply reducing the amount of money going into the farm bill? Is there anything else to it or is that all we democrats have got?

Capping subsidies, for one thing, so we're not paying agrimillionaires to grow things we don't need. Also privileging soil and wetland conservation. That's what pops off the top of my head, but there's a lot more.

Posted by Antid Oto | July 24, 2007 2:40 PM

It certainly doesn't help that an influential primary is in Iowa.

I can't begin to express my overall distaste of farmers. they chemically pollute the environment in a manner which exceeds major industrial corporations.

When I drive through the midwest, I just get pissed off. every available inch of soil goes to the harmful production of unneeded crops. somehow, the american public gives farmers a free pass, which sucks. fuck them all.

Posted by lasser11 | July 25, 2007 1:32 AM

Add in the fact that under our subsidies, we took the corn and maize the Native Americans showed us how to grow before killing them and cross-bred it and genetically engineered it until it turned a bright yellow that lacked its original nutrients. Instead, it's just now a stick of sugar surrounded by a husk that goes into high fructose corn syrup that makes everybody in America fat while corn gets dumped on the international market.

Posted by Reality Man | July 25, 2007 1:38 AM