One way to "cut" abuse and lower the deficit

[Andy823]

A Depression-era program intended to save American farmers from ruin has grown into a 21st-century crutch enabling affluent growers and financial institutions to thrive at taxpayer expense.

Federal crop insurance encourages farmers to gamble on risky plantings in a program that has been marred by fraud and that illustrates why government spending is so difficult to control.

And the cost is increasing. The U.S. Department of Agriculture last year spent about $14 billion insuring farmers against the loss of crop or income, almost seven times more than in fiscal 2000, according to the Congressional Research Service.

The arrangement is a good deal for everyone but taxpayers. The government pays 18 approved insurance companies to run the program, pays farmers to buy coverage and pays the bills if losses exceed predetermined limits.

With a showdown over the nation’s finances -- and a possible government shutdown -- looming this fall, the growing insurance tab is a bipartisan target. President Barack Obama sought this year to cut almost $12 billion from the program over the next decade while his ideological opposite, Republican House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, has called subsidized insurance “crony capitalism.”

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/taxpayers-turn-u-s--farmers-into-fat-cats-with-subsidies-201500681.html

This is a program, one of many, that has been abused for years. Republicans always want to "cut" programs that actually help those who need it, but programs like this that last year alone hit around $14 billion, seem to never make it on to the "chopping block". It will be interesting to see if something can be done about it this time around, especially with Ryan calling it "crony capitalism"!

Stop taking away food for the poor and take away the billions that are being wasted on programs like this.