Farm bill is regressive, bloated, experts say

A number of policy groups slammed the farm bill currently under consideration in the House of Representatives as bloated, regressive, and a handout to big farming businesses at a press conference Monday morning on Capitol Hill. “There’s a lot not to like in this bill,” said Tim Male, vice president of conservation policy for Defenders of Wildlife. It is “frankly laughable to call it any kind of reform,” said Andrew Moylan, senior fellow for R Street, a Washington-based think tank. The House farm bill will come up for debate on the House floor on this week. The Senate passed its own version last week. Most of the speakers highlighted the cost of the bill. Farm bills have a history of running over their projected spending, noted Joshua Sewell, a policy analyst at Taxpayers for Common Sense. For example, the 2002 bill overran by 30 percent, while the 2008 bill overran by 50 percent, he said. While the Congressional Budget Office is projecting ultimate savings, “You shouldn’t have faith that we’re going to harvest these savings,” he said. This year’s bill is 47 percent bigger than the 2008 bill, said Chris Edwards, an expert at the libertarian Cato Institute. President George W. Bush vetoed the 2008 bill, but Congress overrode his veto. Andrew Roth of the Club for Growth called the farm bill a “reverse Robin Hood bill”—taking from the poor to give to the rich...more