Can you think of a good reason why the federal government should be taking tax dollars from the American people and redistributing them to wealthy farmers?
We can't.
Well, fortunately the Senate recently voted to cut off direct federal payments to farmers whose annual incomes are greater than $1 million.
That's a move in the right direction, but it's hardly adequate.
Suppose, as the Senate has voted, farmers making more than $1 million per year do lose the direct federal payments -- which are provided regardless of how bountiful their crops are or how high crop prices go. Do you feel better about the fact that farmers making up to $999,999 per year will still be entitled to the payments? Do they seem to be people in need of a federal subsidy at the expense of taxpayers who earn far lower income per year?
What's more, why is Washington in the business of handing out farm subsidies in the first place? Nothing in our Constitution permits Congress to do any such thing!
So long as massive, unconstitutional subsidies of various types remain in the federal budget -- and so long as our huge entitlement programs are not reformed to make them sustainable -- we should not be surprised that our $14.9 trillion national debt keeps dangerously rising.
And that's bad news for all of us.