JUST BECAUSE IT'S EASY DOESN'T MEAN WE SHOULDN'T DO IT:

Here’s an Easy One (NY Times, 1/15/11)

[H]ere is one big-ticket saving that all members of Congress should get behind: cutting the billions of dollars in farm subsidies that distort food prices, encourage overfarming and inflate the price of land.

The government spends $10 billion to $30 billion a year subsidizing mainly large-scale farmers. That includes: $5 billion in direct payments that are delivered regardless of what or even whether farmers plant; up to $7 billion in “marketing loans” that effectively set a floor on crop prices; up to $4 billion to protect farmers in bad years; about $4 billion in subsidies to buy crop insurance — which lead to higher premiums; and more.

In 2008 the government committed to buy up cheap imported sugar, which could depress the price of home grown, and sell it to ethanol producers, even at a loss.