A. Barton Hinkle on the Great Farm Bill Ripoff
Congress is now reconsidering farm policy, as it does every five years. If you visit Washington and happen to see a lot of lawmakers wearing slings, that's because they've been breaking their arms patting themselves on the back for "reforming" farm aid. But in fact, writes A. Barton Hinkle, our current farm policy is basically a confusing clutter of programs that pay farmers not to farm, reward them for undue risk, write checks to rock stars and Rockefellers, give special treatment to certain crops without rationale, and ladle out welfare to the wealthy while ignoring those on the margins.