Sunday, July 06, 2008

The Disgrace of our Farm Bill

Miami Herald has a nice article on the disgrace of our 290 billion dollar farm bill. As bad as it is taking money from American consumers to subsidize rich farmers it is even worse to destroy third-world agriculture in Latin America and Africa. McCain had the guts to stand against it, and St. Obama? Do you really need to ask?


This is why I find the opposition and even disdain for McCain from the young libertarians so perplexing. Sure, McCain is not perfect on these issues and his grasp of the theoretical reasons that such measures are wrongheaded is surely very tenuous. But that makes Obama's bald pandering all the more inexcusable. Moreover, the grasp of economics is not all that important in cases like this where what is right and what is politically expedient are so starkly distinguished. The real need is not for a cleaver politician but a courageous one. The real need is for a man willing to do things that cost him. Looking at Obama and John McCain can anyone doubt who that man is?

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