-- Its too expensive. The current farm bill was supposed to save money. Its supporters in Congress are touting the fact that the legislation cuts $16.5 billion from the deficit over the next decade, compared with simply extending previous law. But thats actually a small trim compared with alternatives on offer. In its 2014 budget, for instance, the White House asked for farm legislation that would have saved twice as much, $38billion — mainly by slashing payouts to farmers. Whats more, as Taxpayers for Common Sense points out, no ones sure that the current savings will even materialize: The Congressional Budget Office estimates that two-thirds of the deficit reduction wont happen until after 2019 — after this bill expires — and even that depends on economic conditions and assumptions that may not pan out. (More on this in a sec.) About the only guaranteed cut here is the $8.4 billion snip to food stamps. -- The subsidies to farmers may go up, not down. The current farm bill was also supposed to overhaul the way that the federal government supports farmers. But theres a lot of debate about whether the new system is actually an improvement.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 19:17:55 +0000
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