I didn’t even know there was such a thing as “sparkly styling spray” for dogs (which “leaves the coat with specks of shiny glitter and aroma of candy cane”) but the members of Congress do. Yes, that’s right. If you haven’t guessed it, you and I are subsidizing these products/companies through farm legislation.
Apparently, this type of nonsense has been going on for years and it’s just one more reason get rid of earmarks or whatever other mechanism is used to embed them in bills. If it were up to me, there would be term limits so that the bums in Washington would actually have to work in the private sector and find out what’s it like to have a real job instead of catering to special interest groups.
But while I’m at it, attached to these farm subsidies is money to study the healthfulness of peas and lentils. There are programs to support popcorn producers and winemakers. There’s even a subsidy to encourage bird watching. The bill, last renewed in 2008, now costs $969 billion over 10 years.
When I read about profitable companies like Blue Diamond, Sunkist and California Raisins getting federal funding to market their products overseas, my head wants to explode.
Is this ever going to end?
