Copyright 2002 The Houston Chronicle Publishing Company  
The Houston Chronicle
May 03, 2002, Friday 3 STAR EDITION
SECTION: A; Pg. 42

LENGTH: 420 words

HEADLINE: FARM POLICY;
Washington comes a cropper in an election year

SOURCE: Staff

BODY:
The farm bill overwhelmingly approved by the U.S. House Thursday is bad all around. It kills any hope of meaningful reform to American agricultural policy. It expands failed crop subsidy policies. It costs taxpayers 70 percent more than does the existing farm package.

But, hey, it is an election year, and the bill, which the Senate is expected to approve next week, will dump billions of dollars on farming states in the South and the Midwest, where there are many close races.

Like a swarm of locusts, the proposed farm package wipes out much of the market-oriented Freedom to Farm Act passed by Congress in 1996. That legislation was intended to free American agriculture from the government's failed farm policies, many of which were initiated during the Great Depression.

This new plan would boost government agriculture spending by 70 percent, or $ 73.5 billion, over the next 10 years and create new subsidies. And some people wonder where the budget surplus went.

Government price guarantees would be raised for corn, wheat, oats and sorghum. Old subsidies would be restored to wool and mohair. A new national dairy subsidy would cost taxpayers $ 1.8 billion. A system through which the government provided additional payments to farmers when commodity prices were below certain levels, abolished by the 1996 legislation, would be reinstituted.

Individual farms could get as much as $ 210,000 from taxpayers through various programs, not including unlimited subsidies.

Oh, by the way, noncitizens who have lived in the country for at least five years would become eligible for food stamps. How's that for sensible farm policy?

The problem is that the program encourages overproduction, and overproduction results in lower crop prices. In addition, European and other trading partners argue that the subsidies violate free trade agreements, giving American farmers unfair advantages over farmers in foreign countries.

The worst thing about the new farm bill is that it actually does little to save family farms. Two-thirds of the available subsidies go to the top 10 percent of farms. In other words, it is a blatant political sop to agri-business and wealthy farm enterprises and does very little for struggling family farmers.

The Bush administration initially opposed subsidies. We were hoping President Bush would take a strong stand against it. But political realities apparently have carried the day. The president is expected to sign the measure when it is sent to him from the Senate.



TYPE: Editorial Opinion

LOAD-DATE: May 4, 2002