farm subsidies i have really mixed feelings about farm subsidies. they really need to be reviewed. we don't want to subsidize tobacco, or food to be used as fuel, or growing things in stupid places. like rice in a desert. fuckin' brilliant. the prices we pay at the grocery store don't reflect the true cost of food. some of our paychecks get redirected towards food subsidies. so we could lower taxes and raise food prices. it would probably be a small win for us. because management by free market is generally more efficient than management by government. 'course the dollar cost of feeding people who are unable to feed themselves would go up. and their ranks would probably grow. so maybe that small win would just go away. or maybe we can grow a pair and show that group some desperately needed tough love. anywho, that's a different topic. right now it's cheaper to buy american food than to grow it locally. many third world economies never get off the ground. whatever gdp they can generate leaves the country. like our deficits. but much worse because their deficits are like 110% of their gdp. so if we shut off the subsidies, some of these third world economies might be able to bootstrap. this worries some. we don't need more foreign competition for our goods. we don't need new players with political and economic clout on the world stage. and those are valid points. but on the other hand, these are potential consumers of american goods. who might just be political allies.  ¶ 8:00 AM