Agriculture dodges a bullet

Agriculture dodges a bullet

San Antonio Express-News, on Congress and farm cuts: With government bailouts generating so much populist anger, at least one area has been excluded from outrage — agriculture.

The question is why?

In hard times, it’s now conceivable for the government to provide some form of assistance to failing businesses. But thriving industries that put out their hands make a mockery of the system.

Call it welfare for the rich.

Most of the subsidies go to large farm operations with annual incomes averaging more than $230,000, according to Citizens Against Government Waste.

President Barack Obama tried and failed to do something about it recently, crafting a plan to prohibit “direct payments” to farms with annual gross receipts exceeding $500,000.

Fairness loses

What seemed like an eminently fair and sensible proposal was too draconian for the powerful farm lobby and the lawmakers who bow before it.

In both the House and Senate, lawmakers from farm states argued against the limits, saying that the president went too far in his efforts to scale back the subsidies. ...

In the end, White House officials acknowledged the plan may have been too “ambitious,” although it represents a sad state of affairs when prudence and common sense are regarded as overreaching. ...

As those conversations evolve, politicians must realize that the American voters are the true “stakeholders,” and that their rage can spread to those beyond Wall Street.