Mixing Politics with Parity

Too many cooks threaten to spoil the farm bill

"Before very long, we're actually going to have to dig big holes and bury this stuff," said Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Richard Lyng in Chicago, waving a piece of moldy cheese. "American taxpayers are spending almost $2 billion this year buying up dairy products nobody wants." Lyng was referring to the most blatant and expensive byproduct of the nation's complex array of agricultural support programs: the 12.6 billion Ibs. of surplus milk produce that the Government has purchased (at a cost of $1.9 billion) to...