To Subsidize Or Not To Subsidize? That Is The Question.

By Monica DeStefano
The Blue Print
on Agriculture:

The Senate Agriculture Committee is under the gun to produce legislation on the subsidies issue in America. Previous to the volcano eruption the subsidies issue was pertinent but not pressing, now without a proactive bill, global starvation is at stake.

Prices are getting higher and higher, that’s a fact, and just to give an idea as to how far up they’ve gone the Secretary of Commerce released figures estimating that nationally prices have increased 15-20% since the volcano eruption in Indonesia three months ago. 
Subsidies are tax write offs from the government for large and small farms around the country. Previous to the disaster in Indonesia the government has implemented subsidies for farmers to produce less crops so that supply would be lower, demand would be higher and prices would produce the best possible profits.

Obviously with a shortage on food production worldwide, those subsidies are no longer necessary and farmers need to be making as much as possible to prevent further starvation around the globe. Strong advocate on subsidies for farmers to produce more crops is Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA).

Feinstein said, “As democrats we want more subsidies because it enables small companies to compete on the same playing field as large corporations. Obama himself wants to promote local farming to help fuel local economies and the overall ecosystem.”

The right side as usual is concerned for the national debt and the voice of farmers when it comes to subsidies and formulating agricultural policy, but the current desperation for food is pulling both parties together. One bill currently being penned to paper is a bi-partisan effort called, The Crop Subsidies Bill. This bill is pushing to create subsidies in order to produce more crops to relieve the hurting economy and citizens. Then slowly over time the subsidies would be decreased as the world recovers. A writer for the bill, Sen. Michael Bennent (D-CO) said, “I think it is absolutely necessary to pass this bill before the situation deteriorates further.”