Learn More in Agriculture

TCS RSS Feed RSS

Taxpayer Supports for Biomass in Federal Farm Bill

August 28, 2013 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture , Energy

Taxpayer Supports for Biomass in Federal Farm Bill For years, proponents of bioenergy and biofuels promised that the industry would help reduce U.S. dependence on fossil fuels, decrease... Read More

Current Agricultural Policy’s Effects on Water Quality

August 21, 2013 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture

Current Agricultural Policy’s Effects on Water Quality For more than 75 years, market-distorting agricultural subsidies have produced numerous unintended consequences that have degraded water... Read More

Impact of Ag Subsidies and Record Farm Profits in Farm Country

June 18, 2013 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture

Impact of Ag Subsidies and Record Farm Profits in Farm Country Despite last year’s drought, the agriculture sector recorded its second highest year of profits in a generation, down just three percent... Read More

Achieving Measurable Outcomes in Agricultural Conservation Programs

June 14, 2013 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture

Achieving Measurable Outcomes in Agricultural Conservation Programs All federal agricultural programs – including conservation programs - should prove that they are achieving measurable outcomes that... Read More

Corporate Consolidation in Agriculture Fact Sheet

June 13, 2013 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture

Corporate Consolidation in Agriculture Fact Sheet Despite best intentions, sometimes federal programs do more harm than good and cause unintended consequences that unnecessarily shift... Read More

Income Guarantee for Agribusinesses: Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) Shallow Loss Program

June 10, 2013 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture

Income Guarantee for Agribusinesses: Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) Shallow Loss Program “Shallow loss” programs are a luxury that would be the envy of any other industry. They are market- and trade-distorting entitlement... Read More

Reforming the Farm Safety Net: Principles for Accountability

May 23, 2013 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture

Reforming the Farm Safety Net: Principles for Accountability Every five or so years, Congress has an opportunity to reform agriculture policy in the farm bill, a massive piece of legislation that... Read More

Political Contributions & Conflicts of Interest Taint U.S. Ag Policies

May 22, 2013 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture

Political Contributions & Conflicts of Interest Taint U.S. Ag Policies Despite our nation’s $16.8 trillion debt and record deficits, agricultural lobbyists continue to fearlessly campaign for more subsidies... Read More

Biomass Crop Assistance Program Fact Sheet

May 02, 2013 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture , Energy

Biomass Crop Assistance Program Fact Sheet The Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP), a new program added to the energy title in the 2008 farm bill, was intended to spur... Read More

U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Market Access Program

May 01, 2013 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture

U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Market Access Program Many examples of corporate welfare can be found in the federal budget, but few are as wasteful as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s... Read More

Biorefinery Assistance Program Fact Sheet

April 30, 2013 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture , Energy

Biorefinery Assistance Program Fact Sheet The Biorefinery Assistance Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Development office, was intended to... Read More

Department of Energy Loan Guarantees: Biofuels and Biomass

April 30, 2013 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture , Energy

Department of Energy Loan Guarantees: Biofuels and Biomass Created as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Title XVII Loan Guarantee Program has $34 billion in... Read More

Taxpayer Supports for Corn Ethanol in Federal Legislation

April 16, 2013 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture , Energy

Taxpayer Supports for Corn Ethanol in Federal Legislation Since its creation of the domestic market for corn ethanol after the energy crisis of the 1970s, the federal government has nurtured and... Read More

Repowering Assistance Program Fact Sheet

April 12, 2013 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture , Energy

Repowering Assistance Program  Fact Sheet The Repowering Assistance Program, administered by U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Development office, reimburses... Read More

Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels Fact Sheet

April 08, 2013 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture , Energy

Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels Fact Sheet Established by an Executive Order in 1999, the Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels (BPAB) is intended to pay advanced biofuels... Read More

Rural Energy for America Program Fact Sheet

April 02, 2013 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture , Energy

Rural Energy for America Program Fact Sheet The Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) was created in the 2008 farm bill to provide federal grants and loans to renewable energy... Read More

Biomass Research and Development Initiative Fact Sheet

March 26, 2013 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture , Energy

Biomass Research and Development Initiative Fact Sheet The Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI) provides grants to companies, universities, and government research centers to... Read More

Political Footprint of the Corn Ethanol Lobby

March 20, 2013 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture , Energy

Political Footprint of the Corn Ethanol Lobby The federal government has in one form or another provided lucrative subsidies to the corn ethanol industry for more than 30 years,... Read More

Path to Trillion Dollar Farm Bills

March 04, 2013 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture

Path to Trillion Dollar Farm Bills Not only have recent farm bills come in significantly over-budget, but they have also doubled in cost over the past decade. ... Read More

Crop Insurance Administrative Policy Changes

January 30, 2013 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture

Crop Insurance Administrative Policy Changes Several administrative changes could be implemented to reduce taxpayer costs and limit the unintended consequences of federal crop insurance. ... Read More

Golden Fleece Awarded to Risk Management Agency for Risking Taxpayer Dollars

December 13, 2012 | Awards | Agriculture

Golden Fleece Awarded to Risk Management Agency for Risking Taxpayer Dollars Taxpayers for Common Sense awarded the Golden Fleece to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency for wasting taxpayer funds on risk management education for crops ranging from Christmas trees to turf grass.... Read More

Political Power of the Agribusiness and Crop Insurance Lobbies

October 31, 2012 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture , Budget & Tax

Political Power of the Agribusiness and Crop Insurance Lobbies The so-called Farm Bill currently being negotiated in Congress is shaping up to be another taxpayer-funded handout to wealthy landowners,... Read More

Haves and Have-Nots in Federal Crop Insurance

October 31, 2012 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture , Budget & Tax

Haves and Have-Nots in Federal Crop Insurance Federally subsidized crop insurance has become the largest taxpayer support for agriculture. But not all parts of the agriculture... Read More

Loan Guarantee Program 101

October 16, 2012 | 101 | Agriculture , Budget & Tax , Energy , Natural Resources

Loan Guarantee Program 101 A basic primer on the Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Guarantee Program and answers general questions on the history, administration, and overall effect of the program.... Read More

Farm Bill 101

October 02, 2012 | 101 | Agriculture , Budget & Tax

Farm Bill 101 The Farm Bill is a massive piece of legislation that guides food and farm policy. It covers wide-ranging topics from rural broadband service to farm subsidy payments.... Read More

Agricultural Safety Net 101

October 02, 2012 | 101 | Agriculture

Agricultural Safety Net 101 The agricultural safety net refers to the various federal programs and policies that insulate agricultural producers from the costs of conducting business.... Read More

Green Scissors Campaign 101

Green Scissors Campaign 101 A basic primer on the Green Scissors campaign and answers general questions about the history and goals of the coalition.... Read More

Sliding Past Sequestration: $2 Trillion in Common Sense Cuts to Avoid the Fiscal Cliff

Sliding Past Sequestration: $2 Trillion in Common Sense Cuts to Avoid the Fiscal Cliff In the summer of 2011, Congress sent the President a bill that acknowledged failure. Instead of swallowing hard and coming up with... Read More

Record Drought Results in Record Profit

August 30, 2012 | Agriculture

Special interests are always looking for a silver lining. This year, it’s the farm lobby and sympathetic politicians shamelessly taking... Read More

With Agriculture Disaster Aid Congress Pays Now, Hopes to Save Later

August 01, 2012 | Policy Brief | Agriculture

With Agriculture Disaster Aid Congress Pays Now, Hopes to Save Later Citing record drought conditions throughout the country, the House is debating today legislation to retroactively extend four... Read More

Taxpayers Lose with More Unnecessary Farm Subsidy Layers

July 26, 2012 | Policy Brief | Agriculture

Taxpayers Lose with More  Unnecessary Farm Subsidy Layers Federal farm programs are ripe for reform, especially those that lock in record high prices and guarantee farmers’ expected income. As... Read More

Turning a Drought into a Fiscal Disaster

July 24, 2012 | Policy Brief | Agriculture

Turning a Drought into a Fiscal Disaster Politicians on both sides of the aisle are trying to take advantage of the drought crisis to foist a trillion-dollar farm bill on... Read More

House Farm Bill Draft Analysis: Squanders Savings, Recycles Wasteful Ideas, and Creates New Subsidy Entitlement Programs

July 05, 2012 | Policy Brief | Agriculture

House Farm Bill Draft Analysis: Squanders Savings, Recycles Wasteful  Ideas, and Creates New Subsidy Entitlement Programs Yesterday, the House Agriculture Committee released its 2012 Farm Bill draft which eliminates some wasteful commodity programs but... Read More

Senate’s New Way to Lock in Unlimited Farm Subsidies

July 04, 2012 | Policy Brief | Agriculture

On June 21, the Senate passed a few long-awaited reforms to the farm subsidy maze. Unfortunately, at the same time, they also increased... Read More

Federal-Free Risk Management in Agriculture

June 18, 2012 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture

Federal-Free Risk Management in Agriculture Like all businesses, agricultural producers face a number of risks in maintaining a profitable enterprise. Successful management of these... Read More

Senate Ag Committee: More is Less

June 17, 2012 | Policy Brief | Agriculture

(Originally published June 8, 2012) With debate on the 2012 Farm Bill underway on the Senate Floor, proponents of this nearly trillion... Read More

Farm Safety Net Proposals that Fail to Save

April 22, 2012 | Agriculture

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has released a report that will help you study up for this Wednesday’s Senate Farm Bill mark-up... Read More

Government Report Reinforces Need to Harvest Savings in Crop Insurance

April 11, 2012 | Agriculture

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) today released a report detailing the potential to save more than a billion dollars a year... Read More

Crop Insurance: A Federal Cash Assurance Program

February 09, 2012 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture

Federal crop insurance is a highly taxpayer subsidized program that allows agricultural producers to shift their business risk onto... Read More

Cashing In: Biofuels Industry Buys Congress’s Continued Support

November 09, 2011 | Reports & Data | Agriculture , Energy

Cashing In: Biofuels Industry Buys Congress’s Continued Support Taxpayers for Common Sense released today a report detailing the heavily subsidized biofuels industry's political clout. The biofuels... Read More

Super Cuts for the Super Committee

Taxpayers for Common Sense has been working hard to meet the challenge of that the so-called Super Committee is facing - $1.2-1.5... Read More

Green Scissors 2011

Taxpayers for Common Sense joined environmental, consumer watchdog, and free-market groups today to release Green Scissors 2011, which... Read More

No Deal on Ethanol for Taxpayers

July 19, 2011 | Policy Brief | Agriculture , Energy

A small group Senators are attempting to snatch fiscal defeat from the jaws of taxpayer victory on ethanol subsidies. Last month the... Read More

The Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit: History and Current Policy

April 29, 2011 | Policy Brief | Agriculture , Energy

The Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) is the largest subsidy to corn ethanol, the most common biofuel in the U.S. The tax... Read More

Common Sense Cuts—$900 billion in savings over 10 years

The time has come for Congress to begin a serious discussion about how it is going to correct the current budgetary path into deeper and... Read More

TCS Budget Cut List for the 112th Congress: Agriculture

February 10, 2011 | Reports & Data | Agriculture , Budget & Tax

Outdated and ineffective farm policies waste billions of federal funds each year, jeopardize fragile lands and waters and no longer... Read More

TCS Recommended Budget Cuts for the 112th Congress

The time has come for Congress to begin a serious discussion about how it is going to correct the current budgetary path into deeper and... Read More

Election Gives Big-Spending Congressional Committees New Look

The Armed Services Committees are not the only Congressional bodies to see their memberships upended by the midterm elections. The... Read More

Green Scissors 2010

Taxpayers for Common Sense joined a number of environmental and consumer groups and a bipartisan slate of Representatives today in... Read More

FY11 Budget Cuts Agriculture Waste

February 02, 2010 | Agriculture

The President’s proposed FY2011 Department of Agriculture (USDA) budget is $25.8 billion, slightly reduced from the FY2010 level of $26.9... Read More

Ethanol Subsidies: Too Much for Too Little

April 29, 2009 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture , Energy

Through a combination of subsidies, trade restrictions, and government mandates a handful of corporate agribusinesses and oil companies... Read More

GAO: More than $49 Million in Potentially Ineligible Farm Payments

November 24, 2008 | Agriculture

Just months after a new multi-billion dollar five year farm bill was passed into law, a federal watchdog reports that individuals who are... Read More

FY2009 Appropriations Bills: TCS Analyses and Earmark Databases

The following are links to TCS's analysis and database for each of the FY09 appropriations bills. (Note: With the exception of House... Read More

Silos Full of Subsidies

July 30, 2008 | Agriculture

Overview For over 70 years American taxpayers have been doling out billions of dollars every year to underwrite the agriculture... Read More

TCS Agriculture Program

June 01, 2008 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture

Taxpayers for Common Sense works with a broad range of groups to enact significant farm policy reform. With the farm bill up for... Read More

TCS Statement on House Passage of Farm Bill Conference Report

May 13, 2008 | Agriculture

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 14, 2008 CONTACT: Steve Ellis, 202-546-8500   Written Statement by Ms. Ryan Alexander, President of... Read More

Bush Administration Releases Proposal for Farm Bill Compromise

March 04, 2008 | Agriculture

Below is a copy of the proposal reportedly put forth the by the Bush Administration over the weekend.  It’s hard to say whether this is... Read More

Parameters of a Successful Farm Bill

February 29, 2008 | Agriculture

The President released a response to House and Senate conference committee negotiators. The President proposed 13 potential offsets to... Read More

Golden Fleece Award

Taxpayers for Common Sense Announces New Golden Fleece Recipient Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority - Taxpayer Funded Cheerleaders... Read More

Crop Insurance and Disaster Assistance: 2007 Farm Bill Issues (CRS Report for Congress)

October 14, 2007 | Agriculture

The federal government has relied primarily on two policy tools in recent years to help mitigate the financial losses experienced by crop... Read More

TCS Statement On Partnership in Senate Farm Bill Campaign

October 09, 2007 | Agriculture

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 10, 2007 CONTACTS: Steve Ellis, 202-546-8500 Washington, D.C. – The following is a statement by Ms.... Read More

FRESH Act Fact Sheet

September 30, 2007 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture

The FRESH act introduced by Senators Lugar and Lautenberg, and co-sponsored by Senators Cardin, Menendez, Reed, Hatch, Collins and... Read More

House Passes “Carbon Copy” Farm Bill

July 26, 2007 | Agriculture , Budget & Tax

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 27, 2007 CONTACT: Steve Ellis, 202-546-8500 x126 Washington, D.C. – The following is a statement from... Read More

Kind-Flake Legislation Brings the Farm Bill into the 21st Century

June 12, 2007 | Agriculture

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 13, 2007 CONTACTS: Steve Ellis, 202-546-8500 Washington, D.C. – The following is a written statement by... Read More

U.S. Farm Policy: Blank Check Politics

March 31, 2007 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) continues outdated, depression-era farm subsidy policies that funnel billions of dollars to... Read More

TCS Statement on Senate Farm Subsidy Vote

November 03, 2005 | Agriculture , Budget & Tax

The following is a written statement by Jill Lancelot, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense, on the Senate refusal to cut billions in handouts for the nation’s largest and richest farms.... Read More

An Open Letter to the Senate Agriculture Committee: Support Subsidy Reform

October 05, 2005 | Agriculture

Dear Senator:   The undersigned organizations have long advocated reform of our crop subsidy system.  Now, with added federal expenditures... Read More

World Trade Organization Overrules King Cotton

March 03, 2005 | Agriculture

The following is a prepared statement by Franz Matzner, Policy Analyst of Taxpayers for Common Sense on the World Trade Organization's final decision on the Brazil Cotton Case.... Read More

Fixed Direct Payments: Flawed Formula Fleeces Taxpayers

May 18, 2003 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture

Fixed Direct Payments, or ‘decoupled payments’, provide farmers with direct income unrelated to the market.1 Many argue that direct... Read More

TCS Statement on House Supporting Payment Caps in Farm Bill

April 17, 2002 | Agriculture

The following is a statement by Cena Swisher, Senior Director at Taxpayers for Common Sense, on the House Supporting Payment Caps in Farm Bill:... Read More

Despite Changes, Farm Bill Costs too Much, Continues to Plague Family Farmers

February 13, 2002 | Agriculture

The following statement is from Joe Theissen, Executive Director of Taxpayers for Common Sense in response to final passage of S. 1731, the Senate farm bill: ... Read More

Energy Polluter Poised to Reap $62 Billion in Taxpayer Handouts

January 31, 2002 | Reports & Data | Agriculture , Energy , Natural Resources

WASHINGTON, DC - Government subsidies to oil, coal and nuclear power industries could double if the Senate passes the House energy bill... Read More

Chabot takes Stand Against Wasteful Spending

June 28, 2000 | Agriculture

Representative Steve Chabot (R-OH) today offered two separate amendments to the House Agriculture spending bill that would eliminate... Read More

Agricultural Appropriations Bill Reaches Too Deep

June 28, 1999 | Policy Brief | Agriculture

Washington, DC - The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on an appropriations bill today that is riddled with unnecessary... Read More

Agriculture Appropriations Bill Reaches Too Deep

May 24, 1999 | Policy Brief | Agriculture , Budget & Tax

Washington, DC – The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on an appropriations bill today that is riddled with unnecessary... Read More

Weekly Wastebasket

Our weekly reality-check for federal spending. View All

September 13, 2013

Syria: Excuse 535 To Not Cut the Deficit

Volume XVIII No. 37 Possible action in Syria has become the most recent excuse du jour for Pentagon boosters... Read More