Harvesting Cash II
"Farmers" harvesting cash in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN:
"Farmers" harvesting cash in Chicago, IL:
Further investigation of the EWG Farm Subsidy Database reveals that there are wealthy "farmers" harvesting cash from the taxpayers in all major urban areas, see maps above of Minneapolis-St. Paul and Chicago (click to enlarge). Note that the largest circles represent payments of more than $250,000 from 2003-2005, and the second largest circles are for payments between $100,000-$250,000, etc. In Minnesota, one out of every three recipients of federal farm subsidies live in either Minneapolis or St. Paul (1,831 out of 5,652 total for the state). In Illinois, more than 1,700 recipients of farm subsidies live in Chicago, which represents 25% of subsidy recipients in the state.
8 Comments:
It's 2007. Farm owners don't necessarily live on farms anymore, so why is it so surprising that so many live in cities?
Isn't saying rich farm owners should not receive subsidies the same as saying rich parents should not get an income tax exemption for their child? Apparently, farm subsidies are not needs-based. If they are not effectively serving their purpose through measurable outcome analyses, the subsidies should be eliminated for everyone.
"The federal farm subsidy program was intended to sustain the small, struggling, family farmer. Today, however, this 16 billion dollar-a-year program is being abused, with most of the money going to the biggest and wealthiest, many of them farmers in name only."
Farm subsidies for small struggling farmers have turned into corporate welfare payments for wealthy individuals and large corporations. Since most people oppose corporate welfare, I would assume that most people now oppose farm subsidies, and they should be phased out.
Excellent observations walt g. and maybe an analysis is due after the politicos publically decide what the purposes of these entitlements should be...
Citizens Against Government Waste will of course disagree with the whole idea of subsidizing farms today...
CATO Institute also has something regarding farm subsidies: Ten Reasons to Cut Farm Subsidies
Thanks. I wasn't aware of the program’s intended purpose. It doesn't sound as if the qualifying standards suit the purpose of the program.
I realize that corporate welfare has a bad name, but is it really any different than an income tax exemption or deduction? It's all a wealth transfer/redistribution system politicians use to get re-elected. I realize that 16 billion dollars is a lot of tax dollars, but how much money is saved by mortgage interest, property tax, and personal exemptions? My guess: exponentially more.
how can get in on this scam?
Not that it's a good excuse, but alot of these can be explained by being the home addresses of investors in farm operations out in the rural areas.
My father is a farmer, and is against subsidies, but even he received a $3000 check, which in his view, he may as well take if they're handing it to him. His farming operation is a partnership with his cousin, who lives in NYC, where we all know, there are no serious farming operations. But since both names are on the business partnership, with my father providing all of the work, and his cousin providing some of the capital investment, a red dot shows up in NYC for the partner, as well as the red dot for the farm in rural Virginia, which is my father's home address.
All of my family were farmers and many still own the land and lease it out to large farming companies. I don't know if they receive subsidies or not, but their current mailing address is not the farm location. My dad left the farm in Arkansas to work in the auto factories in Flint, Michigan in 1955; we sold the farm when he died in 1974.
Large corporate farming is the norm nowadays. Most small acreage farmers have another primary job and use the farm income as a second income. My father grew up with 8 brothers and sisters on an 80 acre farm, and my mother grew up with 11 brothers and sisters on a 640 acre farm. Farms such as those would not provide a living for such large families today.
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