I’m sorry. I’m with the Democrats on this one:
The Republican-led House voted to slash domestic and international food aid Thursday while rejecting cuts to farm subsidies.
A spending bill to fund the nation’s food and farm programs would cut the Women, Infants and Children program, which offers food aid and educational support for low-income mothers and their children, by $868 million, or 13 percent. An international food assistance program that provides emergency aid and agricultural development would drop by more than $450 million, one-third of the program’s budget. The legislation passed 217-203.
…
As they cut other programs, lawmakers rejected two proposals that would have saved money by lowering the maximum amount of money a farmer can receive in subsidies from the government. While fiscal conservatives and other critics of subsidies argued that they need to be cut as lawmakers look for ways to save, farm-state members said those cuts should be pushed back until Congress considers a new five-year farm bill next year.
This is one of the stupider things I’ve read. Farm subsidies increase the price of food (from price supports and other programs). If you cut farm subsidies, you cut the price of food for poor people, making their dollar stretch further. In the choice between subsidizing agribusiness and making sure children have enough food, why on God’s green earth would choose to keep the subsidies for rich businesses?
The GOP did show some stones in killing the Brazilian cotton bullshit and trying to defund ethanol subsidies. But this is just ridiculous.
Update: The Senate voted to kill ethanol subsidies. This is a huge win for us.
