Below The Beltway

Last month, I wrote here and here, about a series that had appeared in the Washington Post about the manner in which the farm welfare system had been abused and created incentives for otherwise productive farmers to act in ways that would seem irrational outside of the welfare they were receiving from the state. Today, the Post has another interesting article along the same lines, this time about the manner in which farmers and ranchers have taken advantage of federal drought relief programs.

CHANDLER, Tex. — On a clear, cold morning in February 2003, Nico de Boer heard what sounded like a clap of thunder and stepped outside his hillside home for a look. High above the tree line, the 40-year-old dairy farmer saw a trail of smoke curling across the sky — all that remained of the space shuttle Columbia.

Weeks later, de Boer was startled to learn that he was one of hundreds of East Texas ranchers entitled to up to $40,000 in disaster compensation from the federal government, even though the nearest debris landed 10 to 20 miles from his cattle.

The money came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture as part of the Livestock Compensation Program, originally intended as a limited helping hand for dairy farmers and ranchers hurt by drought. Hurriedly drafted by the Bush administration in 2002 and expanded by Congress the following year, the relief plan rapidly became an expensive part of the government’s sprawling system of entitlements for farmers, which topped $25 billion last year.

In all, the Livestock Compensation Program cost taxpayers $1.2 billion during its two years of existence, 2002 and 2003. Of that, $635 million went to ranchers and dairy farmers in areas where there was moderate drought or none at all, according to an analysis of government records by The Washington Post. None of the ranchers were required to prove they suffered an actual loss. The government simply sent each of them a check based on the number of cattle they owned

The emphasis, of course, is mine. But if those two sentances don’t epitomize the insanity of government welfare programs, then its hard to figure out what would. In fact, it makes me want to go out and buy a few heads of cattle so I can get some free government money too.

The story of the drought relief fund is a familiar one. Originally, the program was limited to ranchers in counties that had actually suffered a disaster. Sounds pretty simple, right ? Unfortunately, nothing in politics is simple:

At first, livestock owners were required to be in a county officially suffering a drought to collect the money. But ranchers who weren’t eligible complained to their representatives in Washington, and in 2003 Congress dropped that requirement. Ranchers could then get payments for any type of federally declared “disaster.” In some cases, USDA administrators prodded employees in the agency’s county offices to find qualifying disasters, even if they were two years old or had nothing to do with ranching or farming.

Including, apparently, the Columbia disaster mentioned above. The Post goes on to relate, in excruciating detail, how a program limited to ranchers who had actually suffered a disaster was expanded, slowly but surely, to include all ranchers, even those who hadn’t suffered anything that could be called a disaster-related loss for years.

Of particular interest is the what happened after the Space Shuttle Columbia exploded on re-entry on February 1, 2003:

Then, on Feb. 1, 2003, the shuttle exploded. To ensure recovery of the debris and pay for emergency costs, President Bush issued a federal disaster declaration. As an unintended result, most of East Texas was then eligible for livestock funds. Denton County’s livestock owners collected $433,000, records show.

(…)

When the shuttle exploded, pastures were full and there hadn’t been a drought or any other type of weather disaster in years, records show. But after the presidential disaster declaration, John Reeves of the local USDA office informed livestock owners in Henderson County they were eligible. They eventually collected $751,083 despite no shuttle damage.

Reeves said he had no choice but to write the checks. “Congress passed legislation and approved us for that Livestock Compensation Program, and that’s what it was,” he said.

In other words, because politics had ensured that the definition of a qualifying disaster was now so broad, even something as remote as the Columbia explosion or, as related later in the story, an earthquake that took place 170 miles away from any ranch land, constituted a disaster worthy of compensation, regardless of whether a loss was suffered or not.

Students of government largesse should not be surprised by this, or by the disaster that the farm welfare program turned into. One wonders, though, when everyone else will learn their lesson.

Related thoughts on the Post article from KipEsquire.

Related Posts:

Time To End Farm Welfare….Again
More On The Absurd Farm Welfare System