Farm Subsidies and You Health

Libertarians love pointing out unintended consequences. Earlier this month, I found an unintended solution. Ending a government program would not only solve a root problem, but it would actually solve a problem that seems to be unrelated. The government program I am talking about is farm subsidies.

In an attempt to save the family farmer, the federal government gives $25 billions a year to farmers to grow their crop, water and feed their crop, or to not grow anything. Yes, you can get money to do something, or to not do something. The farm lobbies have long argued that the nation’s food supply is just so important that without subsidies, the entire nation’s food supply would be in jeopardy and the family farm would be out of business.

Most of the food in our food supply is not subsidized, yet you never see of a shortage of apples, eggs, or chicken. New Zealand got rid of farm subsidies in the 1980’s, and they actually have seen an increase in food production

Most of the beneficiaries of farm subsidies are not family farmers, but rather large agribusinesses like ADM and Cargill. Other rich people to have received government handout include ABC news correspondent Sam Donaldson, media mogul and multi-billionaire Ted Turner, and disgraced Enron CEO Ken Lay. Subsidies are paid per acre, so the big and most profitable players in farming get the biggest handouts.

But as far as the unintended solution to ending government farm subsidies, the prices of many fruits, vegetables, and poultry would be even with that of fattening meats like beef.

One day when I was in a McDonald’s, I noticed that the price of a double cheese burger was $1 (440 calories, 23 grams of fat as per McDonalds’ website). Then I saw the price of a fruit and walnut salad, $2.99 (210 calories, 1.5 grams of fat). The fruit requires no cooking, no animals to raise, no slaughtering, less risk of food borne illness, yet 3 double cheeseburgers costs as much as one fruit salad. This pricing makes no sense, except beef is so heavily subsidized that its price is much lower than healthier alternatives. This encourages people (especially those with low or fixed incomes, and students) to eat fattier foods, which makes for an even more obese nation.

Many people talk about how farm subsidies are not needed and actually harmful to farming, nobody ever seems to see how it will effect our nations health. If we ended farm subsidies, the government would encourage people to eat better. And this can be done without spending a single dime.

36 Bills in One Day?!?

Monday, July 30 was a busy day. The House of Representatives passed 36 bills. Assuming a 9-hour day, a bill would have been read, debated, and voted on every fifteen minutes. But that couldn't have happened, because the House also managed to pass 17 resolutions.

How could the House accomplish so much in one day? By not reading or even considering the bills and resolutions they passed.

All in all, the House passed 48 bills in the last week before the August recess, and the Senate passed 32. We normally tell you the total number of pages of legislation Congress passed, but this week, we just don't have the time to add it all up. And we don't think that is needed to prove the point: members of Congress can't possibly have time to read and understand the bills they pass.

Perhaps Congress needs to pass all these bills to keep Big Government running. But that's just the problem. If we want Big Government, we can't have truly representative government. Representation means more than just getting elected. If Congress truly represented the people, they would be reluctant to infringe on our freedoms and spend our money. They wouldn't pass 36 bills in one day. But the more responsibility we place on the federal government, the less time and attention Congress can give to any particular issue. So instead of reading and debating the bills before them, they rush to a vote. That's not accountability. That's not representation. If we want a truly representative government, we must Downsize DC. And we must pass the Read the Bills Act.

You can tell Congress that you don't want them to pass 36 bills in one day ever again. You can tell Congress to slow down. You can tell Congress to stop rubber-stamping bills. You can tell Congress you want to be represented. You can tell Congress to pass the Read the Bills Act.

Do you want to spread the word about the Read the Bills Act and promote your website at the same time? Then consider joining the Read the Bills Act Coalition. It's quick, easy, and free. Click here for details.

We welcome three new members to the Coalition this week:

The Awareness Network
FreedomActivists.net
The Original Drug Manual for Kids

Thank you for being a DC Downsizer.

James Wilson
Assistant to the President DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

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