Club for Growth

The Farm Bill Strand of Potomac Fever

"Potomac Fever" is a nasty, contagious disease that afflicts many politicians on Capitol Hill. With fierce aggression, it turns a rookie idealist into a veteran big spender. The nature of the virus is hard to define. Sometimes it consumes a person virtually overnight, sometimes over a period of years. Only the most courageous and stubborn lawmakers are able to avoid it.

But what are the symptoms of Potomac Fever? How can you tell if your congressman and Senators have it? The first places to look are various economic scorecards (like this one). Are their scores getting worse with each passing year? If so, then they're probably infected (Note: while the virus is not terminal, history shows that recovery can only occur by leaving DC.).

A more narrow symptom is their voting behavior on one particular issue. Take the Farm Bill for instance. In 1996, "Contract with America" Republicans offered a bill in the House called the "Freedom to Farm" proposal. It was a market-oriented bill that called for replacing the farm subsidy system with a program based on fixed payments that would be phased out over several years. It was intended to wean farmers off the dole, give them greater freedom on what to plant, and allow them greater access to the global market. It wasn't perfect, but it was a solid bill. It passed 318-89 in the House (with 106 Democrats voting YES!) and the Senate passed it 74-26 (52 R, 22 D).

However, as the years went by, the farm lobby grew bigger and applied more pressure. Aided by an economic downturn, Congress unraveled all of the good work that they did with the "Freedom to Farm" Act, by passing the "Farm Security" Act. It was a bloated, ugly bill. It expanded subsidies and weakened market signals (The irony of the bills' names was not lost on Rep. Jeff Flake who once quoted Ben Franklin to make a point about farm subsidies, "He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither.")

The 2007 Farm bill which passed Congress last week, ensured that the ugliness adopted in 2002 would expand and continue for at least another five years.

Below the fold are the members of Congress who had the wisdom and courage to vote for the 1996 bill, but were too weak from the Fever to vote against both the 2002 bill and the 2007 bill (It's clear that Potomac Fever is blind to political affiliations -- the list includes 48 Democrats and 46 Republicans).

VOTES
1996 bill: House | Senate
2002 bill: House | Senate
2007 bill: House | Senate

Posted at Andrew Roth at 12:00 PM | TrackBack