Will We Ever Have a Free Market Farm Bill?

ATR ^ | 2012-05-09 | Kelly William Cobb

[92nina]

This week, the House will vote to slash Agriculture spending by $33.7 billion. This presents a huge opportunity to reform agriculture in a free-market direction, yet it’s an opportunity being squandered by Congress.

For one thing, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), who chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee, is pushing a Farm Bill that reportedly contains only $24.7 billion in spending cuts. Yet not all farm programs are treated equal and some don’t even rely on direct payments to farmers at all. The most market distorting programs rely on a convoluted system of supply management and price control programs, where government buys products off the market, makes loans to farmers with their crop as collateral, and sets tariffs and other mechanisms so that food is significantly more expensive than it would otherwise be in a free market.

A couple examples: the government employs all three types of these programs just for sugar, keeping it nearly twice the world price. The reforms proposed by Stabenow to dairy programs would effectively tax farmers when prices drop, then use that money to buy the farmers’ own products back off the market, effectively guaranteeing them an income while consumer prices stay high. Taxpayers don’t directly see the cost from these programs in their tax bill, but find that it’s built into the price of their food.

It's with these market distorting programs that Sen. Stabenow’s Farm Bill doubles down on more of the same. While cutting direct payment programs, it generally replaces them with government crop insurance. This is just as distortionary a system that will be even harder to fix...

Read more: http://atr.org/free-market-farm-bill-a6878#ixzz1uVA2whn5

[92nina]

It's time to dramatically downsize Uncle Sam's role in keeping our food prices artificially high.

Take this article and others I found to the fight to the Libs on their own turf; put the Left on the defensive at Digg and at Reddit and in Stumbleupon and Delicious

[Mackaywarrior]

I think it’s good to note that food prices still jump during turmoil so the department of agriculture’s original intent has failed.

Why should we ever pay anyone not to work?

[Last Dakotan]

The major spending in the farm bill isn’t food subsidies - rather its food stamps.

[PGR88]

Besides this, one also needs to look at what FDA and EPA do to distort agriculture markets. For example, we had the recently passed “Food Safety and Modernization Act” which gives the FDA control over pretty much everything from farms to grocery.

[cripplecreek]

I’ve often heard it said that there’s no such thing as a stupid farmer.

If that’s true, they’ll remember the mistakes of the past and farm smart under a free market system.

[Usagi_yo]

Okay, putting my flame retardant suite on -— Of all the things a government does, securing the countries food supplies via subsidies and regulations is tops in my book for things they really need to do and do well. You don’t want the nations food supply to float against supply and demand. I can’t even begin to point out how much of a bad idea that is. Its actually is worse than just a bad idea.

[kosciusko51]

You don’t want the nations food supply to float against supply and demand. I can’t even begin to point out how much of a bad idea that is. Its actually is worse than just a bad idea.

What about:

You don’t want the nations health care to float against supply and demand. I can’t even begin to point out how much of a bad idea that is. Its actually is worse than just a bad idea.

Or:

You don’t want the nations housing to float against supply and demand. I can’t even begin to point out how much of a bad idea that is. Its actually is worse than just a bad idea.

Or:

You don’t want the nations education to float against supply and demand. I can’t even begin to point out how much of a bad idea that is. Its actually is worse than just a bad idea.

Or:

You don’t want the nations water suppy to float against supply and demand. I can’t even begin to point out how much of a bad idea that is. Its actually is worse than just a bad idea.

Or:

You don’t want the nations energy suppy to float against supply and demand. I can’t even begin to point out how much of a bad idea that is. Its actually is worse than just a bad idea.

[GeronL]

We aren’t likely to see this soviet-style system changed in our lifetimes are we?

[Usagi_yo]

Nice row of straw men. Take that energy invested in straw men arguments and play devils advocate with yourself and start listing things that can go wrong with erratic food supplies and don’t respond until you do.

You can actually live your whole life without most of those other things. Without food and water you’ll perish within a month. Start some serious rolling food shortages and see how fast this country turns to hard core socialism. Put yourself in a famine stricken area with a good population density and watch the hilarity ensue.

[Daveinyork]

What is the baseline from which the “slash” is taking place?

[kosciusko51]

Agreed that the health care, housing, and education are straw men, and that food and water are necessities. But also, you can't exist today without energy, as that is necessary for providing the food and water in most areas.

Erratic food supplies will not happen if the government gets out of the subsidy business. What it does is artificially increase the prices of food. If you can convince me that subsidies prevent erratic food supplies, I will concede the point.