The Trump administration seems to be preparing large payments to farmers, particularly those growing soybeans, similar to the ones offered in 2018-2020 during his first administration.

That such payments could come from the money collected from President Donald Trump’s tariff seems ironic at best, considering that the tariffs are the reason the payments are needed in the first place.

But looking deeper, that such payments are seen as an entitlement by many farmers, impatient because the cash has not yet flowed, shows how moribund sound policymaking has become in our nation. That most of the general population will raise no objections further ratifies that dismal conclusion.

Consider several problems with such bailouts.

One is that payments to a narrow group of those affected by unwise

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