As Steve Benen (channeling Politico) so ably pointed out yesterday, there is a glaring hole in the Republican phalanx against Federal spending. You probably knew: it's farm subsidies, and no wonder: just as libertarian Rand Paul M.D. has shown not the slightest interest in cutting medicare payments, so the staunch defenders of budgetary rectitude apparently can't think of a penny that they would clip off this particular cash cow. Back in the 60s, there were some tax-cutters in Congress who wanted to propose a cap on per-farmer subsidies of--I think maybe the number was $100k, still pretty serious bucks in that simpler time. The whole point was to embarrass the sponsors into showing they were so in the tank for the farm lobby that the couldn't accept even a hint of compromise on the issue. Of course these guys do not embarrass easily and the project languished.
If grudging fairness, I should acknowledge that some of the conservative think tanks have been pretty good on this one: see, e.g., link, link. (or were; both these links are going on four years old). Maybe they understand it is all a charade.
Oddly enough, there does seem to be at least one Republican who appears willing to speak about farm subsidies. I'm not sure whether this is serious, or a charade, or more evidence that she's batshit looney. Do I dare suggest her name? You'd think her enthusiasm might be at least tempered by the fact that she's apparently a pretty goodsized recipient of farm subsidies herself, but still.
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