NYT editorial: Here’s an Easy One

Vows by Congressional Republicans to slash billions from the federal budget at a time when joblessness is high and the economy needs stimulus are reckless. But here is one big-ticket saving that all members of Congress should get behind: cutting the billions of dollars in farm subsidies that distort food prices, encourage overfarming and inflate the price of land.

The government spends $10 billion to $30 billion a year subsidizing mainly large-scale farmers. That includes: $5 billion in direct payments that are delivered regardless of what or even whether farmers plant; up to $7 billion in “marketing loans” that effectively set a floor on crop prices; up to $4 billion to protect farmers in bad years; about $4 billion in subsidies to buy crop insurance — which lead to higher premiums; and more.

In 2008 the government committed to buy up cheap imported sugar, which could depress the price of home grown, and sell it to ethanol producers, even at a loss.

This should be an easy one. But the farm lobby is not worried. Last week, the Farm Bureau Federation voted to insist that the 2012 farm bill “maintain a strong ‘safety net’ ” for farmers — including direct payments, insurance subsidies and the countercyclical and marketing loan programs. It said all the special pleadings should, of course, fit “within the budget framework.”

(More here.)