Harvesting Cash: Big Sugar Invests $1.5m to Make $100m/Year. IRR = 6,666%; A Satan-Like Return

From yesterday's Washington Post:

When U.S. sugar farmers needed help this summer defending a $1 billion, 10-year subsidy plan in a new House farm bill, they found it in some surprising places.

The House sugar vote illustrates the hold that agricultural interests maintain on farm policy even as the number of full-time commercial farmers has shrunk to a few hundred thousand. Sugar groups have used campaign cash and far-reaching alliances with labor unions and politicians to expand their influence far beyond the 15 states and few dozen congressional districts where sugar is grown by fewer than 6,000 farmers.

So far this year, nine sugar farm or refinery groups have made more than 900 separate contributions totaling nearly $1.5 million to candidates, parties and political funds, according to federal election records and CQ MoneyLine. American Crystal Sugar Co., a Minnesota-based sugar-beet cooperative with 3,000 members, has made 317 contributions totaling $819,000. In July alone, its political fund contributed more than $70,000 to 26 House members, 24 of whom sided with it on the July 27 sugar vote.

Bottom Line: Wouldn't you invest $1.5 million today to get $1 billion over ten years ($100 million per year)? Your annual Internal Rate of Return (IRR) would be 6,666.67%, a return that would certainly catch the attention of Satan.

Question: Why is Congress selling special-interest legislation to Big Sugar at such a low price? They are giving $1 billion of benefits away to Big Sugar for a mere $1.5 million in campaign contributions. What gives? Couldn't they have charged $3 million or even $30 million? After all, Congress has a monopoly on special-interest legislation. What could Big Sugar say - "If you give us the sugar subsidies we want, we'll take out business elsewhere?"