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November 22, 1999

REASON Express

November 22, 1999

Vol. 2 No. 47

1) The Milk Wars Are Lost

2) More Fallout from Anti-Drug War Talk In New Mexico

3) Free Trade With a Big Hitch

4) The State of Smokes

5) Quick Hits

- - Udder Failure - -  

Once upon a time--three years ago--Congress resolved to dismantle a Soviet-style pricing system for the nation's milk supply. Refrigeration was at last cheap and plentiful, obviating the need for a cow on every corner.

It was tough, and some concessions were made, but at last the mighty edifice known as the Agriculture Department was instructed to do away with Depression-era milk-price controls. As the Ag Department slowly put its lumbering bulk into motion to do just that, Congress looked around and hit the stop button.

Seems the old math of charging millions of people a nickel or a dime too much for milk, while routing that booty back to concentrations of voters in the thousands, is just too good for politicians to let go. It has certainly worked for Sen. Jim Jeffords (R-Vt.), whose entire reason for being is to prop up his state's dairy industry.