🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <4128j8$af4@digdug.pencom.com>, robin@pencom.com wrote:

> : >Clever...  But do you have some real data?  Why not just provide some 
> : >detailed data about how much each of the above groups is getting 
> : >any objective rationale...  People might think you are biased -- and not 
> : >just some kook.
> 
> : How about this, from the August 1995 issue of Atlantic Monthly:
> 
> : "Cotton figures in the controversy over the "double dip": the use of 
> : subsidized water to grow subsidized surplus crops. In addition to 
> : receiving Bureau of Reclamation water in some regions, cotton is almost
> : always declared in surplus by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, making
> : cotton growers eligible for certain USDA payments.  Since the putative 
> : intent of the surplus-crop program is to scale back the production of 
> : crops that are overabundant, it seems perverse to stimulate production
> : by allowing growers of surplus crops to use subsidized water. According
> : to the USDA, farmers use about $85 million worth of subsidized water
> : each year to grow surplus crops for which they also receive about $500
> : million from the USDA."
> 
> Which is _precisely_ my point.  The government cuts off the "free market" by 
> trying to affect the supply -- which has an adverse effect on the
profitability 
> of the producers.  The subsidy is an effort to repay them for the lost
profits 
> -- which were caused by the government mucking with the supply.

C'mon man, don't insult my intelligence. You think the big bad government
is *forcing* these poor AgriCorporations to rake all this money? All for,
duh, for no reason whatsoever?  You think that's why the put-upon
Agriculture industry pumped billions of dollars into political campaigns?
Do you seriously think it's why they have hordes of lobbyists roaming the
halls of Congress, scoring every piece of legislation and packing the
Agriculture Committee markups? How about the billions in taxdollars we
have spent advertising and marketing these million-dollar corporations'
products overseas? How about the billions of dollars in state and
federal-supported agricultural research we provide them? Is the Big Bad
Government forcing this money into their pockets?

I'm tired of those clueless few who pontificate on the great
political/economic forces of the universe. Usually they're either people
who've taken a few economic courses in junior college, weigh 400 pounds
and host a nationally-syndicated radio show, work at the University of
Chicago School of Economics, or are sales manager at some frigging Honda
dealership. Their mantra is "the Free Market Will Save Us ALL"

The fact is, there isn't a businessman alive who really wants free and
open competition--since a level playing field means he's got a 50-50
chance of losing, and a better than even chance of diminished profits. So
he sets about improving his odds and profits in anyway he can--flouting
laws, influencing legislation, acting without concern for the general
welfare, etc. Those who have blind faith that private enterprise is the
cure to all our ills need to be reminded of an old joke: How many
conservative economists does it take to screw in a light bulb? None...if
the light bulb needed changing, the market would have done already.