Sadly but predictably the U.S. House of Representatives just refused to make meaningful cuts in farm subsidies. (See, e.g., this report in the Washington Post from the Associated Press: “House keeps farm subsidies, cuts food aid as it passes food and farm spending bill.“) Buried in this bad news, however, is a speck of good news: over the objection of a majority of House Republicans, that chamber voted to end the crazy year-old scheme of sending more than $12 million monthly to Brazil in order to induce the government there not to raise tariffs on U.S. exports to Brazil.
That these payments were authorized in the first place – and continue to be supported by most GOP House members – is lunacy. In no rational universe does government A raise taxes on citizens of A in order to acquire funds for use in bribing government B not to raise taxes on citizens of B.
That a majority of GOP House members voted to maintain this unsavory scheme suggests that that party, in fact, is populated chiefly by charlatans whose disregard for their oath to uphold the Constitution is matched only by their duplicity in proclaiming a wish to rein in government while pusillanimously voting to keep it galloping ahead at full speed.
(HT Andy Roth)
