Pour some sugar on me....

NRO has a good article on the stupidity of the sugar tarriff.. The federal government charges high tarriffs on imported sugar. American sugar plantaition owners, AKA "Big Sugar" (which sounds like the name of a mafia don) lobbies both Dems and Reublicans to keep it in place, and most Americans don't know or care much about the tarriff, so Americans pay more for sugar. It's rent seeking in it's purist form.

But the NRO doesn't really talk about the other group that benefits from high sugar tarriffs - Big Corn. See, with sugar prices being so high, companies that use lots of sugar need cheaper alternatives - so they use corn syrup. That's why everthing from soda to ice cream has switched to HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP instead of cane sugar. It's not only the sugar farmers who lobby for higher sugar prices, but also the corn lobby - corn farmers, plus big agricultural companies like Archer Daniels Midland. The sugar tarriff is a bit of protectionist corporate welfare at it's worst - and it's corporate welfare that doesn't just take money from consumers and give it to one special interest group, it takes money from consumers and gives it to multiple special interest groups.

It's a sweet deal for them, but it should leave a bad taste in the mouth of all consumers. (pun intended)