Comments alevin has made

  • Relationship to food prices and food quality

    One of the main products supported by farm bill subsidies is high-fructose corn syrup, the ubiqitous sweetener in soda and processed food. Between 1985 and 2000, the  cost of  soft drinks fell by 23 percent while the cost of fruits and vegetables jumped by 38 percent.  The low cost of corn syrup is contributing to the epidemics of diabetes and obesity.

    The low impact on the price of pork may have to do with the distribution channel for meat - most of the markup happens after the animal is slaughtered. The main benefits of the subsidies are the oligopoly of food processors. The top four companies controlled 84% of beef processing, 59% of hog processing, 59% of chicken  processing, 81% of  corn, 81% of soybeans.    The processors are able to pay  farmers less than  what it costs to produce food, and the government makes up the rest in subsidy.On A guest essay from ED's Scott Faber posted 2 years, 4 months ago 32 Responses

  • or, the worst of both worlds

    The road companies are very cozy with the legislature.  The government uses its power of eminent domain to get the land to build the roads. Then, the private company gets to build the roads, as well as franchise out the gas stations, convenience stores, hotels, retail, etc on land that used to belong to private citizens.  Local governments in the area are not allowed to build competing free roads. See, the TransTexas corridor before its terms were mitigated a little bit this last legislative session.On Could it work? posted 4 years, 4 months ago 10 Responses

  • Adina Levin

    DailyKos, MyDD on the left, and RedState on the right, have a "diary" feature that lets community participants write entries. One way to get billing on those sites is write good diaries that get posted to the front page.

    For example, there was a great diary on Kos by a person who spent his career in the coal industry and wrote about the environmental ups and downs:
    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/4/23/214849/506On Why don't the big political blogs cover environmental issues? posted 4 years, 6 months ago 6 Responses