Why the U.S. Is Also Giving Brazilians Farm Subsidies

[dipsydoodle]

From last year :

What could be more outrageous than the hefty subsidies the U.S. government lavishes on rich American cotton farmers?

How about the hefty subsidies the U.S. government is about to start lavishing on rich Brazilian cotton farmers? (See the top 10 green ideas of 2009.)

If that sounds implausible or insane, well, welcome to U.S. agricultural policy, where the implausible and the insane are the routine. Our perplexing $147.3 million–a-year handout to Brazilian agribusiness, part of a last-minute deal to head off an arcane trade dispute, barely even qualified as news; on Tuesday, April 6, it was buried in the 11th paragraph of this Reuters story. (The New York Times gave it 10th-paragraph play.) If you're perplexed, here's the short explanation: We're shoveling our taxpayer dollars to Brazilian farmers to make sure we can keep shoveling our taxpayer dollars to American farmers — which is, after all, the overriding purpose of U.S. agricultural policy. Basically, we're paying off foreigners to let us maintain our ludicrous status quo. (See a photo gallery of farm life in America's heartland.)

I've previously written that federal farm subsidies are bad fiscal, environmental and agricultural policy; bad water, energy and health policy; and bad foreign policy, to boot. Cotton subsidies are a particularly egregious form of corporate welfare, funneling about $3 billion a year to fewer than 20,000 planters who tend to use inordinate amounts of water, energy and pesticides. But the World Trade Organization (WTO) doesn't prohibit dumb subsidies. It only prohibits subsidies that distort trade and hurt farmers in other countries.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1978963,00.html#ixzz1RGiHimWh

:rofl:

[Judi Lynn]

1. You can laugh! Oh, jeez. Have never heard this until today.

It IS good to find out about it. Will be watching for more news about it in the future.

Thanks, dipsydoodle. Rec.