More on Big Sugar’s Uncle Sugar Daddy's subsidy

The Big Sugar Sweetheart Deal with Uncle Sugar Daddy--

Carl Hiaasen: Big Sugar’s subsidy — how sweet it is - Carl Hiaasen - MiamiHerald.com: " . . . The major beneficiaries of this bailout would be cane growers in Florida and beet operations in Minnesota, Michigan and North Dakota. Big Sugar has outsized political clout in Washington, as evidenced by the silence of so-called fiscal conservatives. Heavy campaign contributions are spread among Democrats and Republicans alike. Barack Obama took money from the sugar industry, as did Mitt Romney. Hefty donations went to both of Florida’s senators, Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio. Every time somebody in Congress tries to kill the sugar subsidy, the measure gets voted down — by some of the same lawmakers who love to rail against public spending on welfare benefits, health care and education. In Florida, the bitter taste of the sugar subsidy goes back decades. The program helped to make multimillionaires out of people who prolifically polluted the Everglades, and who for years fought all efforts to make them clean up their waste water. . . . .subsidies jack up consumer costs by about $3.5 billion annually . . .  If you’re in the sugar business in this country, you can depend on politicians to restrict imports and guarantee a set price for your crop — the antithesis of free-market competition. It’s not a one-time shot, either. It’s an ongoing gush of entitlement. While we’re cutting scholarships for the children of dead war heroes." (read more at link above)


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Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/23/3301344/big-sugars-subsidy-how-sweet-it.html#storylink=cpy