Big Ag vs Big Oil

In reading a little bit on the Congressional hearings today for the big oil companies I came across something very interesting. Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass stated the following:

"These companies are defending billions of federal subsidies ... while reaping
over a hundred billion dollars in profits in just the last year alone," he said.
The companies are reaping "a windfall of revenue" while poor people have to
choose between heating and eating because of high energy prices.

I find this interesting because of a quick bit of research I did this afternoon. It turns out that US Farm income is expected to be $92.3B in 2008 according to the USDA. Now farmers are enjoying in excess of $20B in government support (subsidies, loan programs, disaster aid, etc). On the other hand, the Oil Companies are enjoying $123B in profit (2007 and less expected in 2008) and only $18B in government support. So farmers’ income to aid ratio is 21.6% while Big Oil is 14.6%. So it would seem to me that it is the farmer who is actually making people make the choice between heating their homes and eating, not the oil companies.

Maybe the right thing to do is have no subsidies for anyone and let consumers choose what the right price for energy and food is in the market place. Why do any of these for profit entities need tax payer support? If they cannot stand on their own two feet, they should be allowed to fail, even farmers. Get the land in the hands of farmers that can be more efficient and deliver food to consumers that is cheaper. That is the humane thing to do, even for the farmers.