9 Forces Driving More
American consumers is apparent in every trip to a grocery, where costs
of the highest-quality foods are among the lowest in the world.” Instead,
President Obama doled out accolades to politicians, university officials,
trade associations, and farmers. Consumers were never mentioned in
his official remarks, even though a nation of consumers was footing the
bill. In later press releases, some politicians said that the new farm bill
saved taxpayers money, while never explaining their distorted rationale.
Others deferred to the standard line that the bill was “a win for farmers
and consumers.”
Prior to the president coming, I quizzed people in the local com-
munity about their knowledge of the bill. The general response was
that it dealt with agriculture, but otherwise they had little idea what it
contained. When I mentioned the estimated cost, they shrugged their
shoulders as if resigned to a government out of control.
Two years after the bill was signed, Congress’s own budget office
bumped up the cost projections for the insurance provisions an addi-
tional 0 percent. The final tally will not be known for years, but it
doesn’t really matter. The way permanent legislation works, lobbyists
and politicians were already contemplating the next round of subsidies
and protections, along with perfunctory promises that the new bill will
be better than the last and a win–win for everyone.
“If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on
government would be necessary,” wrote James Madison. Yet it was in
the absence of angels that people came together to form a new nation.
Through democratic elections, individuals were chosen to represent the
nation and uphold the rule of law. From such a beginning came public
roads, bridges, and waterways, national defense, public education, hos-
pitals and research, and greater food availability than at any time in the
history of the world.
Reminders of this public spirit are still with us. In 201 , wildfires
ripped through parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas, destroying crops
and leaving thousands of animals dead. In response, farmers in Michi-
gan’s Upper Peninsula rallied to send as many as forty-five semi-trucks
of hay and other supplies because, as one farmer said, “it’s the right thing
to do.”