Thursday’s confirmed sighting of rare harmony in the U.S. Senate could ultimately save American taxpayers about $23 billion. By a 64-35 vote, senators passed a five-year, half-trillion-dollar farm bill that affects much more than farms. It also affects anyone who consumes farm products, as well as 46 million food stamp recipients. In other words, all of us.There’s plenty to like in this bill, which includes significant contributions by senators from the Pacific Northwest.
We’d like to think House members will seize this momentum and pass the Senate bill, or a similar version. But that probably won’t happen. Many representatives will fight for even more cuts, especially in a food stamps program that has grown to $75.7 billion annually. If they’re smart, though, they’ll take what the Senate is offering, run with it and then campaign robustly back home on their success as cutters of $23 billion.
Most of the savings would be achieved by eliminating most farm subsidies. The Columbian has said for years that farmers should not be subsidized by the government for crops that are not grown. Such foolishness — which costs taxpayers about $5 billion a year — is amplified by the Great Recession, and by the fact that net farm income this year is projected to be the second-highest ever, about $91.7 billion. Severely cutting farm subsidy programs and expanding crop insurance programs, the Senate approved what Bloomberg News calls “the biggest (farm) policy change in decades.”
House members, what more do you want? Cuts in the food stamp program? They’re there. The Senate approved $4 billion in cuts over 10 years, adding tighter eligibility requirements including a ban on food stamps for lottery winners and affluent college students, plus a crackdown on benefit trafficking.