The oldest and most durable of all Washington handouts is the agricultural subsidy. Without it, of course, farm families would be forced off the land, food prices would rise, and all manner of woe would be the nation’s lot.
The thing is, of course, a trough where the fat hogs crowd and slop. As Diane Katz writes in an absolutely essential Heritage report, the worthies who have received farm subsidies in the recent past include: former-President Jimmy Carter ($272,288), current Republican senator Charles Grassley ($955,192), and … well, what do you know, serving Agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack ($82,874).
Washington protests, always, that it has reduced spending ruthlessly and there is no more fat to be cut.
To which one asks … what about these porkers?
