End farm subsidies Our position: A phase-out would save taxpayers money and help free trade.

orlando sentinel ^ | December 5, 2005 | Editorial

[Sonny M]

Time is running out for the United States and other developed countries to agree to phase out their trade-distorting, taxpayer-gouging, Third World-punishing farm subsidies.

The latest round of world trade talks is scheduled to resume later this month in Hong Kong. The World Bank has estimated that a successful completion of the talks could boost the world economy by $500 billion a year and lift at least 144 million people out of poverty.

But the talks have little hope for success unless the United States, the 25-member European Union and other developed countries agree to reduce the billions of dollars a year they spend on agricultural subsidies.

[Sonny M]

I've always hated farm subsidies, and pretty much never look a gift horse in the mouth if it can be used to cut subsidies.

[msnimje]

But I was thinking about not growing corn next year so I could get money from the government.
If the subsidies end, I won't be able to not grow corn and get paid for it. This is not the America I know!

[Mrs. Shawnlaw]

If the government and bureaucracies would keep their filthy noses out of agriculture and quit making laws against producing and selling, maybe agribusiness could do without subsidies.

But, as it is, can't sell milk, can't raise animals, can't sell animals, can't transport animals, have to have all these id's, spend a fortune on vet certs, can't sell eggs.

The list goes on and on. And as if the gov and agencies weren't enough here comes the animal and enviro whackos making agri business even tougher to do.


If you want to get rid of subsidies fine, but start helping out in lobbying against activists and relaxing laws.

[Sonny M]

If the government and bureaucracies would keep their filthy noses out of agriculture and quit making laws against producing and selling, maybe agribusiness could do without subsidies.

This is a cart and horse thing.

I think if you do dump the subsidies you WILL HAVE to cut alot of the stupid regulations and without subsidies, we can slash some of these bureaucracies.

Subsidies, go hand in hand with regulations, many a gov official will justify the subsidies as reimbursement for the cost of the regulations.

I'd rather slash the subsidies and while we are doing it, slice the regulations to compensate.

[labette]

"So far, Europe has failed to match the U.S. proposal, and there has been little enthusiasm for it in Congress." {from your article}

Don't know about current European thinking, but as recently as a decade ago, there were still people who remembered what it was like to starve. But I doubt if this is still their reasoning.

[labette]

The odds are good that if you grew corn this year, you lost money on it.

[Sonny M]

Don't know about current European thinking, but as recently as a decade ago, there were still people who remembered what it was like to starve. But I doubt if this is still their reasoning.

You might laugh, but its mostly the french, who are fighting hard to keep as many subsidies as possible, along with some other nations on the western side of the EU.

Personally, I would have guess (but then I would have been wrong) that the biggest push on keeping subsides would have been from the eastern folks.

[labette]

From what I've read about the French, I think you're right.

The laws of economics say that a subsidy is counterproductive... But with the scale that things are approaching... We could someday see where "many are forced to buy from few."

[clodkicker]

AND get france and the EU to stop their subsidies. We are out spent 10 to 1. AND we also don't make other countries live up to their end of the bargain. China as a condition to WTO entry was to not subsidize their corn exports. They have subsidized them from day one.