If you want to see the ugly underbelly of politics, look no further than the current farm bill.  What a shining example of pet projects and special interests duking things out with other people’s money … your money, the taxpayers.

How many of you realized that our food stamp program is actually paid through this farm bill?  Not only that, but 73% of the entire freaking bill goes to pay for food stamps.  That’s an astounding $969 billion for food stamps.

But the list of other recipients of farm bill money is long and laughable.  We spend $25 million to study the healthfulness of peas, lentils and garbanzo beans.  Yup, 2500 families had their entire tax burden spent to study the healthy benefits of peas.  Then there’s another $11.2 million for popcorn producers and more money for wine makers.  There’s even a subsidy in the farm bill to encourage bird watching.  Bird watching!  You can’t make this stuff up.

And one more that asinine way the politicians like to spend your money … $200 million a year is spent on something called the Market Access Program, which is supposed to promote U.S. products abroad.  One of the companies subsidized under this MAP program is called Espree.  Espree is a company that produces styling products for dogs, including a styling spray that “leaves the coat with specks of shiny glitter and aroma of Candy Cane.”

Glittery dogs … your tax dollars at work!