Dreams From My Farmer

The economy is a top issue for voters, and in key swing states in the Midwest and around the country it may come down to your opinion of the farm bill. It's not so simple. Consumers in Chicago are hit hard by high food and gas prices, and hog farmers in Iowa are hurt by high corn prices as well. There are other unintended consequences. Ethanol is a water hog, imperiling aquifers urban and rural. And the farm bill makes us Ugly Americans abroad. Sen. Obama is from Illinois, a farm state, but the bill exemplifies how Washington is broken, something Barack Obama does nothing to fix. More from David Freddoso, "Dreams From My Farmer: If Obama is a reformer, why doesn’t he vote like one?":

In The Audacity of Hope, Obama worries about the ugly image that Americans project to the world in the area of trade. We demand, he writes, that “developing countries eliminate trade barriers that protect them from competition, even as we steadfastly protect our own constituencies from exports that could help lift poor countries out of poverty.”

This laudable concern did not prevent him from voting for the farm bill, whose entire purpose was to “protect our own constituencies from exports that could help lift poor countries out of poverty.” By supporting the bill, Obama was voting to increase subsidies for American crops that make other nations’ crops uncompetitive (additionally, the majority of the money goes to commercial farms with an average net worth of nearly $2 million).. His vote increased the price support that causes Americans to pay double the world price for sugar. He also helped keep in place tariffs and import limits against certain crops from developing countries — especially against sugar from developing countries like Brazil and the Caribbean nations.

The bill that Obama voted for even bars the U.S. government from purchasing crops in the poor nations where we are providing food aid. When President Bush vetoed the bill, demanding at least that this last provision be changed, Sen. Obama voted to override the veto.

Not buying food from poor farmers in poor countries to feed the poor means they can not lift themselves out of poverty by developing their own economy. They are dependent on the American government--this is the same culture of dependency Obama's policies would foster at home. This is not reform, it's more of the same old failed liberal Democrat policies of the past--and it always comes up short.

Maverick Sen. McCain brought some straight talk to Chicago when he blasted the Farm Bill back in May. Ethanol subsidies in the bill make food even more expensive, and it's not without other costs:

In 2008, ethanol’s ravages started to make headlines — this “green fuel” was contributing to record-high food prices and causing food riots in the developing world. It was exhausting water supplies, driving up gasoline prices, and exacerbating smog. Environmentalists, who almost universally oppose ethanol, even complained that its production process is driving up emissions from coal.

In a year when farm income is at historic highs, it is wrong to shower goodies on the well-fed when families are making hard choices about buying gas or putting food on the table. And a Democrat Congress leaving town without acting on a serious energy bill is callous and irresponsible. Americans need more than dreamy words that don't mean anything--we need real leadership, real reform, and results.