Farm Bill: a crime against American people (Cato Institute)

O Farm Bill não é apenas um atentado à racionalidade econômica, ele é um crime cometido contra o próprio povo americano, que vai pagar essa conta de forma duplicada, diretamente pelos impostos, e indiretamente pelos preços dos produtos.
Mais do que um crime, aliás, um equívoco econômico monumental.
Paulo Roberto de Almeida

Farm Bill Spending Up 49 Percent (Share on Facebook and Twitter) The Senate passed a $956 billion compromise farm bill, which makes only modest cuts to the bloated food stamp program. The bill has passed the House last week. Says Cato scholar Chris Edwards, “Farm bill supporters claim that the new bill includes ‘savings’ and ‘cuts,’ but that is a myth… The reality is that Congress is imposing a huge, damaging, and unaffordable burden on taxpayers and the economy.” “Farm Bill Spending Up 49 Percent,” by Chris Edwards “Pork in the Farm Bill,” by Michael D. Tanner “10 Reasons the Farm Bill Makes No Sense,” by Chris Edwards

 

Farm Bill Spending Up 49 Percent

By CHRIS EDWARDS

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Under cover of SOTU media coverage, Congress is set to sneak through the first big farm bill since 2008. The Congressional Budget Office released its estimate of the bill’s cost: $956 billion over 2014-2023. It would thus mean almost $1 trillion more borrowed from U.S. and foreign creditors, adding more weight to the anchor pulling down the living standards of our children and grandchildren.

If you are a reporter, please don’t write that the farm bill “slashes” anything. Even according to the official score, it just trims $16.5 billion from expected spending of $956 billion over the decade, which is just 1.7 percent. The food stamp (“nutrition”) portion of the bill trims just $8 billion from expected spending of $756 billion, which is just 1.1 percent.

However, the 2014 farm bill is not a cut at all when compared to the 2008 farm bill, which was projected to cost $640 billion over 10 years. That is a 49 percent spending increase.  

Sure, the new bill shuffles the farm subsidy deck chairs, but the bill’s main budget attribute is that it ratifies the huge recent increase in food stamp spending. The House bill had proposed trimming a modest $39 billion (5 percent) from food stamps, but Republican leaders caved in and agreed to just a token 1 percent trim in the final bill.

Here are 10 reasons why the farm bill makes no sense.

Topics:

Government and Politics, Tax and Budget Policy