GAO Finds that Farm Subsidies Go to Rich People

In a recent report the GAO found that many farm subsidy payments go to people over the supposed income cut off. People making over $2.5 million a year are not meant to receive the subsidies. The Miami Herald reports that between 2003 and 2006 almost three thousand people received such payments. While the $49 million so spent is only a small percentage, tiny really, of the total subsidiaries given by the federal government to farmers it is still money wasted. Such subsidies are a prime example of pork within the federal budget. President Bush, as other Presidents and legislators in the past, had tried to reduce them but the total bill is controlled by Congress who see little benefit in reducing these payments to farmers. There have also been complaints of how the payments favor certain crops and states over others. The history of this activity shows little hope for reform in the future.