May 5, 2003
THE ROT SPREADS
Abuses Plague Program To Insure Farmers' Crops (Scott Kilman, Wall Street Journal, 5/5/2003)Year after year, when farmer Duane Huber tallied up his wheat crop, it turned out that some of his fields had produced only a skimpy harvest, what farmers call a crop failure.Failure, it turns out, was key to his success. The wheat farmer fraudulently reaped at least $4 million from a federally sponsored crop-insurance program, in part by faking disasters, according to federal prosecutors. Mr. Huber became a local tycoon in this tiny town, collecting antique cars and serving as lender of last resort to hard-pressed neighbors. But last fall a jury in Fargo found him guilty on 19 criminal counts, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S.
One of his schemes, as prosecutors described it, was simple: Record part of the wheat grown on Field A as having come from Field B, so Field A looks like a dud and qualifies for an insurance reimbursement....
The case, while extreme, isn't isolated.... "Rampant fraud goes on in crop insurance," says Bill Mateja, an assistant U.S. attorney in Lubbock, Texas ...
But for taxpayers, crop insurance hasn't been such a sweet deal. The government estimates its costs for crops that failed in 2002 hit $3.9 billion, up 75% from what the program cost in 2000.
Meanwhile, although crop insurance was supposed to replace ad hoc disaster-aid bills, Congress has fallen back into its old habit of passing those bills. President Bush just signed a $3.1 billion bill in February for drought and other recent losses. It sweetens the payout for farmers who bought crop insurance. And in a special twist, even those who didn't buy crop insurance for the 2002 season can get in on the aid, if they promise to purchase insurance in the next two years....
Here in North Dakota, wheat is the crop farmers rely on, and it has been a poor breadwinner for years. The market price of a bushel of wheat often falls below the cost of producing one, and many farmers are on the brink of collapse. About 85% of farm income in the state comes from government programs, not counting crop insurance.
The welfare state corrupts the political process and turns it to selfish ends. The Dakotas, both conservative states, have four Democratic senators because many citizens are wards of the state and trade votes for money. So long as Democrats have a reputation for keeping government funding flowing come hell or high water, then these welfare dependents will continue to maintain Daschle, Johnson, Dorgan, and Conrad in power.
What is missing here is a sense among these voters that they have to give something back in exchange for their federal subsidies. As Oliver Wendell Holmes told us, that something is civilization. Or, as I would put it, liberty.
Ultimately, stopping our descent toward Europeanness is going to depend on taxpayers standing up and demanding liberty in return for taxes. Our taxes must buy us civilization, or we must refuse to permit continued government spending. For instance, welfare-state dependents must come to understand that their Senators must confirm competent and Constitutionalist judges, or the flow of money will end.