You know what really gets me? The fact that a political issue can clearly be disliked by the vast majority of the population, and yet be universally supported in Congress and by the President, and they can get away with it.
It just goes to show you how big the disconnect can be between government and the people.
Ok, Sam, but remember that half of the US Senate is elected by 16% of the population.
In order to balance out regional issues (and maintain the Union) the one-man-one-vote principle is compromised. One result is that a number of rural-oriented policies are maintained. Hey, the US is a rich country.
cite: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/07/opinion/07KRUG.html
The other factor is an admittedly fading sentimentality that many Americans feel for farmers, partly due to their agrarian ancestry.
Flowbark you’ve got good points – doing away with the electoral college would definitely stick a fork in the Farm Omnibus. Nostalgia, yes, but I’m not sure that people are nostalgic for today’s corporate farms – and as Sam Stone and others have said, how is it that the will of the majority can be thwarted so consistently?
And other industries have nostalgia and politics going for them – what about our coal-mining forefathers? – but those industries don’t get such profligate public financing. I think the Farm Bill uses the pork system, and the broken finance system to support itself as well.
Wow! That’s a vipers nest of political flaws! Is it possible that the Farm Bill might be the epitome of all that’s wrong with our current political system?!