Drawing upon substantial support from congressional Republicans, the House and Senate overrode President Bush's veto of the farm bill, thereby enacting an expansion of farm subsidies at a time when high food prices have sent farm incomes 51 percent higher than their previous ten-year average

National Review, June 16, 2008

Drawing upon substantial support from congressional Republicans, the House and Senate overrode President Bush's veto of the farm bill, thereby enacting an expansion of farm subsidies at a time when high food prices have sent farm incomes 51 percent higher than their previous ten-year average. The bill extends the direct-payment program, which does exactly what its name implies: send checks to farmers whether they grow anything or not.

The size of the check is based on the past size and scale of the farmer's operation, so the biggest and most successful farmers get the biggest government handouts. The fig leaf of reform to which subsidy supporters such as Obama cling is that these payments have been "capped." Yet farm families making up to $2.5 million in adjusted gross income are still eligible for tens of thousands of dollars of payments. John McCain said he would have vetoed the bill for lavishing this kind of welfare on farmers making much more than the average American. In this respect, at least, Republican congressmen should have followed his lead.