Bi-Partisan Opposition to US Cotton Subsidies

Easily the biggest roadblock to reforming America's bloated, irrational and (often) WTO-inconsistent farm subsidies is the overwhelming bi-partisan support for them.  Whether in Congress or the White House, Republican or Democrat, it doesn't matter - agribusiness gets some L-O-V-E from almost everyone in Washington.  For a simple example of this fact, one need only look to the awful legislation introduced this week by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) that would obtusely extend a bevvy of ridiculous ethanol subsidies and the 54-cent-per-gallon tariff on imported sugar ethanol.  Of course, these Senators aren't alone in their blind love for using Americans' tax dollars to line the pockets of US agribusiness; indeed, you can't fall down on the House or Senate floor without hitting at least two Congressmen/Senators who issue a near-Pavlovian "Aye" vote every time they hear the words "farm" and "support" used in the same sentence.

However, there have always been a few poor, ostracized souls in Congress who refuse to grab a ladle for the farm subsidy gravy train, but they're pretty darn rare, and they end up taking a lot of heat on Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.  (Indeed, when they run for President, they end up getting pummeled like longtime subsidy-hater John McCain did in the all-important Iowa caucus and elsewhere in the Midwest).   So when a group of Republicans and Democrats join together to scream a chorus of "STOP THE INSANITY" on US farm subsidies, they deserve kudos and support.  Thursday was one of those times, as Congressmen Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Ron Kind (D-WI), Paul Ryan (R-WI), and Barney Frank (D-MA) sent a letter to President Obama, asking him to finally resolve the US-Brazil dispute over WTO-illegal American cotton subsidies by reforming the offending farm programs (something I've been advocating for months now) rather than what the White House is currently doing - i.e., keeping the trade-distorting programs in tact, bribingsubsidizing Brazilian cotton farmers with about $150 million in hush money"technical assistance," and putting future reform in the hands of some of the biggest cotton-lovers in Congress.

The letter from the Congressmen - affectionately referred to by Cato's Sallie James as the "Four Congressmen of the Cotton Subsidy Apocalypse"- highlights the patent absurdity of the current US action in the cotton dispute.  Just how absurd you ask?  Well, absurd enough to get super-conservative Paul Ryan and ultra-liberal Barney Frank to team up to stop the policy.  The letter is available here in a PDF, and I've also pasted it below as an image because I think it deserves as much circulation as possible.  It also deserves ample public praise, so kudos, Congressmen.  Nice job.  And who knows, maybe the ridiculous US-Brazil dispute will end up being the breaking point for a few more your House and Senate colleagues, pushing them to finally wise up and call for a dramatic reform of America's truly stupid (and dirty!) agricultural policies.

(Although I'm not holding my breath.)