If you’ve been fretting that your grocery bills just aren’t quite high enough, stop worrying!
Fifty U.S. senators recently guaranteed that you will be paying perpetually inflated prices for a whole range of foods.
You see, the Senate rejected, by a 50-46 vote, a measure that over time would have halted federal restrictions on imported sugar. Those protectionist restrictions benefit U.S. sugar growers but harm American consumers by artificially keeping sugar prices high and raising the cost of manufacturing all sorts of foods.
There was unfortunate bipartisan support for killing the necessary measure — though there was also commendable bipartisan support for passing it.
“This outdated program puts American companies at a competitive disadvantage, and it should go,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., sensibly declared on the Senate floor.