Academics are given to bemoaning partisan polarization. But the mushy centrism being pushed by the No Labels crowd frequently just amounts to special-interest whoring. Bipartisanship usually means the people get screwed, and the lobbyists win. Latest case in point: the morally corrupt Farm Bill. Congress is claiming it has reformed the program and cut it slightly, but those claims turn out to be false. Perniciously, the farm subsidies are now more indirect and less transparent. The only Congressmen who voted against this were the radical Tea Partiers. Conservatives claim to defend the taxpayer and the free market, yet most of them voted for a bill that extends $10 billion or more a year in corporate welfare. Progressives claim to defend the poor, yet voted overwhelmingly for a bill that gives away taxpayer money to big business and wealthy families while killing starving Africans.
Shame on them.
Tagged: agricultural subsidies, farm bill
