Politics Counts: Who Benefits From Farm Subsidies, Food Stamps
It’s no secret that the current battle over the Farm Bill, which is stalled in Congress, has been a partisan slog. Democratic states and House districts, which hold large urban populations, are fighting to defend food-stamp money against Republican efforts to sharply cut spending. Meanwhile, Democrats and Republicans are also trying to reach a deal on restructuring agricultural subsidies to end direct payments and beef-up crop insurance and other protections instead.Dante Chinni
Dante goes through the list of beneficiaries, by state in two tables; one for food stamps, mainly urban centers benefit, and one for farm, mostly rural Hoover states. On each of the top ten list, California is nowhere to be found, even though we are, with respect to living standard, the poorest state in the union, and adding insult to injury, we pay for the subsidies of others. Odd, I cannot find Texas, New York or Florida. These are all the Hoover states that run the Senate.
This is the price we pay when California is short its full share of ten Senators. For all you UC professors who know about value added government under conditions of mal-proportioned voting, you now understand why your budget is flat lined.
For Harkin and the Hoovers, I have a message: Inefficient government is Pareto inefficient, everyone is worse off.
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