Executive
Waste of the Day: Eliminate the $175.6 Million Corporate Welfare Market Access Program
Congress should eliminate the Agriculture Department’s Market Access Program, which spends $175.6 million a year to no good purpose.
If Congress voted to eliminate the Market Access Program — what Citizens Against Government Waste called “the federal government’s most blatant examples of corporate welfare” — the U.S. could save $175.6 million a year.
Over the past decade, the Department of Agriculture program has given nearly $2 billion in taxpayer money to help agriculture trade associations, farmer cooperatives, and individual companies advertise their products overseas, according to Citizens Against Government Waste in its annual “Prime Cuts” report, which recommends ways to reduce the record national debt.
In FY 2023, MAP gave $175.6 million to successful companies and conglomerates like Blue Diamond ($5.1 million), Cotton Council International (CCI) ($13.9 million), National Sunflower Association ($985,000), Pet Food Institute ($1.4 million), Sunkist Growers, Inc. ($2 million), Welch Foods, Inc. ($677,662), and the Wine Institute ($6.7 million), CAGW reported.
While then-President Barack Obama’s FY 2012 budget proposed a 20% cut to the program, it was struck down in the Senate.
A June 2012 report from former Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) on the program disclosed that some of the $20 million that was given to the Cotton Council International in 2011 was used to create an Indian reality TV show wherein designers created clothing made from cotton.
The show was apparently intended to promote cotton generally, not necessarily cotton from the U.S. However, India doesn’t need U.S. cotton because the country is a net exporter of the product and produces twice the amount of U.S. cotton growers.
The Market Access Program has given more than $190 million to Cotton Council International over 13 years. “It is long past time to eliminate MAP,” CAGW wrote.
The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.
This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.
Adam Andrzejewski (say: Angie-eff-ski) was the CEO/founder of OpenTheBooks.com. Before dedicating his life to public service, Adam co-founded HomePages Directories, a $20 million publishing company (1997-2007). His works have been featured on the BBC, Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight, C-SPAN, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, FOX News, CNN, National Public Radio (NPR), Forbes, Newsweek, and many other national media.
Today, OpenTheBooks.com is the largest private repository of U.S. public-sector spending. Mission: post "every dime, online, in real time." In 2022, OpenTheBooks.com captured nearly all public expenditures in the country, including nearly all disclosed federal government spending; 50 of 50 state checkbooks; and 25 million public employee salary and pension records from 50,000 public bodies across America.
The group's aggressive transparency and forensic auditing of government spending has led to the assembly of grand juries, indictments, and successful prosecutions; congressional briefings, hearings, and subpoenas; Government Accountability Office (GAO) audits; Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports; federal legislation; and much more.
Our Honorary Chairman - In Memoriam is U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, MD.
Andrzejewski's federal oversight work was included in the President's Budget To Congress FY2021. The budget cited his organization by name, bullet-pointed their findings, and footnoted/hyperlinked to their report.
Posted on YouTube, Andrzejewski's presentation, The Depth of the Swamp, at the Hillsdale College National Leadership Seminar 2020 in Naples, Florida received 3.8 million views.
Andrzejewski has spoken at the Columbia School of Journalism, Harvard Law School and the law schools at Georgetown and George Washington regarding big data journalism. As a senior policy contributor at Forbes, Adam had nearly 20 million pageviews on 206 published investigations. In 2022, investigative fact-finding on Dr. Fauci's finances led to his cancellation at Forbes.
In 2022, Andrzejewski did 473 live television and radio interviews across broadcast, major cable platforms, and radio shows. Andrzejewski is the author of The Waste of the Day column at Real Clear Policy. The column is syndicated by Sinclair Broadcast Group, owners of nearly 200 ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX affiliates across USA.
Andrzejewski passed away in his sleep at his home in in Hinsdale, Illinois, on August 18, 2024. He is survived by his wife Kerry and three daughters. He also served as a lector at St. Isaac Jogues Catholic Church and finished the Chicago Marathon eight times (PR 3:58.49 in 2022).
Waste of the Day articles published after August 18, 2024 are considered posthumous publications.
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