Lawmakers should take a hard look at whether farm policies that were created to assist poor family farmers during the Great Depression make any sense in the current era of hugely profitable agribusinesses. They should enact policies that allow farmers to base their crop-planting decisions on market demand, not government subsidies and regulations.
U.S. farm policies serve no legitimate purpose. They are falsely promoted as saving the family farm and protecting the food supply. In reality, they are America's largest corporate welfare program. Read More.
Plenty of city slickers — some related to each other — are among the 350,000 folks who culled bushels of cash out of the $25 billion in annual federal crop subsidies. Read More.
Abstract: The great and calamitous fiscal trends of our time—dependence on government by an increasing portion of the American population, and soaring debt that threatens the financial integrity of the economy—worsened yet again in 2010 and 2011. The United States has long reached the… Read more
Abstract: Are maple syrup felons sufficiently heinous that they should be imprisoned for perhaps as long as 45 years? Some members of the U.S. Senate seem to believe the answer is yes: How else to explain the provisions of the Maple Agriculture Protection and… Read more
As the congressional “super committee” grapples with deficit reduction, all manner of spending is under scrutiny. A small group of farm-state lawmakers is proposing an overhaul of dairy subsidies that would supposedly reduce outlays by $131 million over 10 years. That is just a quarter of the dollars doled out… Read more
Saving the American Dream is The Heritage Foundation’s plan to fix the debt, cut spending and, above all, restore prosperity. It balances the nation’s budget within a decade—and keeps it balanced. It reduces the debt and cuts government… Read more
Abstract: Eighty-five percent of the energy that fuels the American economy is from coal, petroleum, and natural gas. An unavoidable by-product of burning these fuels is carbon dioxide (CO2). Analyses… Read more
Farm subsidies are outdated, unnecessary and unaffordable. Some suggest the farm economy cannot function without subsidies. However, nearly all subsidies go to growers of just five crops: wheat, cotton, corn, soybeans and rice. By contrast, fruit, vegetable, livestock and poultry operations receive nearly nothing, yet produce two-thirds of the farm… Read more
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D–NV) is reportedly pursuing a vote this week on a massive expansion of food regulation. Proponents—Democrats and Republicans alike—contend that the very security of America’s food supply is at stake. But rhetoric aside, the nation’s food supply has never been safer, thanks largely to technological… Read more
Abstract: The number of Americans who pay taxes continues to shrink—and the United States is close to the point at which half of the population will not pay taxes for government benefits… Read more
Abstract: Year after year, The Heritage Foundation’s Index of Dependence on Government documents the ever-growing number of federal aid programs and the ever-growing number of Americans who rely on government subsidies for their existence. The number… Read more
There is little doubt that legislative measures designed to address global warming would greatly burden the agricultural sector. Farming is energy intensive, and cap-and-trade bills--namely the House Waxman-Markey bill, which passed in June, and the Boxer-Kerry bill pending in the Senate--are… Read more
Click here for a chart showing Top 10 Urban 'Farmers' This year's expiration of federal agriculture policies gives Congress an important opportunity to take a fresh look at the $25 billion spent annually on farm subsidies. Current farm policies are so poorly designed that they actually worsen the conditions they claim to solve. For example: Farm subsidies… Read more
This lecture was held at The Heritage Foundation on March 13, 1998. Welcome to our panel discussion on the 30th anniversary of the publication of the Kerner Commission Report. The Heritage Foundation has a number of goals. One is to roll back the liberal welfare state. A prerequisite to understanding what happened to create the… Read more
With the House and Senate close to agreeing on a new $171 billion farm bill, the time is right to take a fresh look at farm policy to ensure that taxpayers are getting their money's worth. Although farm subsidies are justified as helping struggling family farmers make ends meet, the bulk of subsidy… Read more
Members of Congress who are poised to spend at least $171 billion on direct farm subsidies over the next decade would be wise to examine newly released statistics detailing who actually receives these subsidies. In 2001, Fortune 500 companies and large agribusinesses shattered previous farm subsidy records, while small family farmers saw their share of… Read more
Delivered July 30, 2007 immigration has become the most controversial, complex, and sensitive subject we face today. It directly affects our economy, our culture, and our future. To ensure that any action we take on immigration policy is in our national interest, we need to approach the subject with reason and facts.… Read more
On March 1, Brazil will announce a list of retaliatory tariffs against U.S. goods—a response to the American government’s unwillingness to eliminate subsidies to domestic cotton producers. The World Trade Organization (WTO), in 2004 and again in 2005, deemed facets of America’s cotton program inconsistent with multilateral trade… Read more
Last week, The Heritage Foundation reported on a 15-cent fee the Obama Administration's Department of Agriculture...… Read more
Yesterday, after word got out (via a post here on the Foundry) regarding new “mandatory fees” on Christmas trees imposed...… Read more
Christmas is more than a month away, but the Obama Administration just couldn't wait to hang a shiny new ornament on...… Read more
President Obama's Agriculture Department today announced that it will impose a new 15-cent charge on all fresh...… Read more
Paul Krugman recently lamented the fact that in recent years, “manufacturing, once America’s greatest strength, seemed...… Read more
Congress is back, but before Members head home again to campaign, they have to first do what they do best: spend other...… Read more
It’s rather ironic that the activists who routinely lament government’s failure to protect public health are among the...… Read more
UPDATE: The NAACP has released a full video of Sherrod's speech. It shows that the incident Sherrod was describing...… Read more
President Obama’s Secretary of Commerce, Gary Locke, rolled out the administration’s new “National Export Initiative...… Read more
House Analysis – All eyes are on the Senate next week as they continue their work in committee on health care and cap...… Read more
Ernesto Londono