A new report out of Bloomberg shows that the majority of the money Republicans and Trump have earmarked to bailout farmers hurt by Trump’s trade war with China, is going to big business, not to the majority of farmers. According to the report, 50% of the money so far allotted has only gotten to a tenth of the number of recipients in the program. But, the Trump administration isn’t simply being incompetent in the way we have come to expect, they’re making sure some people get some of that sweet welfare.
The top 1% of beneficiaries from the trade aid received 13% of the money distributed in the first round of payments under this year’s Market Facilitation Program, with an average payment of more than $177,000. But the bottom 80% of recipients received an average payment of $5,136, according to the Environmental Working Group, which analyzed records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
Donald Trump’s trade war sideshow with China has seen a “bailout” of the farming industry to the tune of at least $28 billion. That’s twice as much as the bailout that Obama gave the auto-industry. The “bailout” derided by conservatives everywhere at the time. Forget the fact that many of the voters in the farming communities being most screwed by Tump’s policies voted for Trump. Forget about the fact that most of these very same farmers, the ones who voted for Trump, maintain a hypocritical and racist stance that farming subsidies are distinguishable from general welfare or food stamp programs. You have been misled. You have been had.
I believe in government regulations and the need for our government to step in and protect American workers and small businesses. Of course, Trump and friends don’t pull money out of the country’s coffers for Americans, they pull it out for big business.
You have been bamboozled.