Yakk

http://www.reason.com/0403/fe.js.confessions.shtml

This is a pretty hard-hitting article, and it will probably offend some people.

Basically, the arguement is, corperate welfare is a larger problem than the rest of the stupid things governments do. From farm subsidies, to flood insurance, to using eminant domain to appropriate land for non-government use, sugar price supports, and on and on. When the best way to make money is to convince the government to give it to you, something is wrong.

The problem is, the people who benefit from these programs pour tonnes of money into politicians pockets. In other cases, you have workers addicted to the handouts: they have reshaped their business to maximize their income from the government, instead of maximizing their income from doing things that others want to buy.

So, these subsidies are either way under the radar, as people froth at the mouth about silly things like gay marriage, or they are central enough to large voting block's economies that changing them is nearly political suicide.

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Last edited by JHVH : 10-29-4004 BC at 09:00 PM. Reason: Time for a rest.

brianna

Interesting article -- I can hardly blame Lott or Trump or Scotty Pipin for taking advantage of an easy way to make money. The biggest American lie is the idea that we live in a capitalist society while the government continues to give free money to big business in order to keep them solvent. I don't always have a problem with this -- farm subsidies are not nessasarily an evil thing when they go to Bubba John and his 300 acres but I am offended that any of my money is being given to Conagra.

filtherton

I think it is "interesting" that many fiscal conservatives, like lott, who are outraged if a single mother of two gets "my goddamn tax dollars" seem to almost bend over backwards to give money to nike or pepsico.

Not that most democrats are any better when it comes to pork. The difference is that they generally don't make the distinction between wealthy multinational tax-sheltering corporations and poor people.

Some people claim that america has a free market economy. I think the picture would be very different if the government stopped providing corporate welfare and tariffs and subsidies.

Sparhawk

I just found out today that the agriculture industry is a NET welfare industry, ie it gets more in government handouts/subsidies than it pays in tax dollars.

I mean, if you're going to have a whacko scheme like subsidies, why not just not tax farmers at all? And not give them anything?

Stupidity at its finest.

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