Decades ago, when the late Harry Reid was relatively new to the upper chamber, a book arrived at our offices courtesy of the Democratic senator. It was “The Farm Fiasco” by libertarian author James Bovard, a piercing work that critically examined the labyrinth of subsidies, handouts, pork and market distortions that has characterized American agricultural policy since the Great Depression.
An accompanying note from Sen. Reid indicated he sympathized with the author’s thesis.
Years later, Sen. Reid had risen to majority leader, and there he was in 2014 championing the nearly $1 trillion farm bill stuffed “with more government subsidies, more government regulations and more waste,” as one GOP critic described it. Sen Reid insisted the gargantuan legislation was good for Nevada because it included an extension of payments for rural counties.
There’s a lesson in there somewhere about the political realities and the Beltway swamp.
Sen. Reid is no longer with us, but the farm bill remains an abomination that rears its hideous head every five years. Federal agricultural policy has survived repeated efforts at reform and generally marches forward unabated. The latest version now in Congress will cost $1.4 trillion over the next 10 years, according to estimates, and includes the ever-growing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — food stamps — making it even more difficult politically to oppose.