nation

Nope can't cut those farm subsidies! Dems can't cut those nope no sir. Meanwhile the sugar industry is laughing all the way to the bank. And the food plants that use sugar are shifting production to Canada and Mexico where sugar is half price. sweet

The crop insurance companies that were involved should also be shut down from offering crop insurance. Why aren't the other regions of the US tracking the fraud and stealing from the taxpayer? The Ex Mayor of Detroit gets 20 years or more for fraud and these guys get 2 years or months in prison. I guess it's better to steal from the Federal government than a city! They need to look at Federal contracts such as Halliburton and others that have cost plus 5% contracts. Gees, guess what costs are going to come in on these contracts! It is sad when the mantra of cut wasteful spending only applies to the small individual who struggles to make ends meet.

Put a program in place, it will get abused... especially government programs. When will we figure it out - get rid of government programs! Private programs are much better managed, thus more difficult for fraudsters to manipulate.

The whole farm program has been treated, pun intended, as a sacred cow. It's time for a major overhaul in full view of the public. Crop insurance ought to more heavily involve private insurers, who would have a strong motivation to check claims in order to prevent fraudulent losses. Government has its place, but things tend to creep over time, and an honest and open reassessment sure wouldn't hurt. The sad thing is that farmers and those in the commodity and food businesses have lots of lobbyists; who is really watching out for the rest of us?