Farm Bill 2013 could cost US taxpayers $18 billion annually
"a bill that includes a crop insurance program that costs taxpayers over $10 billion per year, pays more than 80 percent of its benefits to the wealthiest 20 percent of farm households, and encourages high risk and wasteful management practices. The government picks up 70 percent of the cost of the crop insurance program that provides unlimited subsidies to wealthy farmers, thousands of whom receive six figure plus premium subsidies every year. The federal government also pays crop insurance companies like Wells Fargo an average over $2 billion a year to sell and service the policies."
"Then there is a new Price-Loss Coverage program that would lock in record-high prices for farmers. If crop prices fell to historical average levels, the program would cost taxpayers as much as $18 billion annually."
[NOTE]: Frankie saw the $18 Billion stat in this 7.19.13 NYTimes article http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/20/business/richer-farmers-bigger-subsidi...
Vincent H. Smith. "Like the past ones, Farm Bill 2013 is an American boondoggle." American Enterprise Institute, July 17, 2013; http://www.aei.org/article/economics/fiscal-policy/like-the-past-ones-fa...
[verified 4/15/14]