Baylen Linnekin: Who Can Save Us from the Farm Bill's False Savings?
When the U.S. Senate voted in favor of passage of the 2014 Farm Bill in February, the buzz on Capitol Hill was that the bill would "save" taxpayers lots of money.
A giddy press release put out by the Senate Agriculture Committee, hailing the passage of the Farm Bill as it awaited Pres. Barack Obama's rubber stamp signature, used some version of the word "save" at least eight times.
The Farm Bill "[s]aves $23 Billion…. save taxpayer money… finding savings… save taxpayers billions…. saves taxpayer dollars…." and so on.
But, as Baylen Linnekin writes, crop insurance subsidies in the Farm Bill could cost billions more than predicted.