Mississippi is a big winner in federal defense spending according to an article by Lynn Lofton in the Mississippi Business Journal.
“When it comes to defense contracts, Mississippi gets its share,” she wrote. “Eighty counties receive government contracts for military spending; only Humphreys and Issaquena counties do not.” She cited the latest figures from 2000 to 2020 at GovernmentContractsWon.com showed $72.1 billion awarded to Mississippi contractors.
Yes, the market for government contracts has been good for state businesses. In 2020, 9,248 contracts were awarded for $5.4 billion. The prior year 14,836 contracts were awarded for $4.1 billion, and the year before that 17,595 contracts for $6.2 billion.
While the market has been good, it is not a free market. Instead, it reeks of socialism. Government controls the type of products, the design and specifications of products, the number of products to be purchased, and so on.
Government domination of markets, like this, is a hallmark of modern socialism.
Politicians often denounce Medicare as a form of modern socialism. Yet, government control of that system is little different from that of the defense industry.
Mississippi is also a big winner in federal farm subsidies. The Environmental Working Group uses Department of Agriculture data to track farm subsidies by state. The latest data show Mississippi farmers obtained $11.4 billion in subsidies from 1995 to 2021. That ranked Mississippi 16th among the 50 states. In 2021 the state ranked 22nd with subsidies totaling $376.3 million.
Markets for the multiple crops that receive subsidies are also significantly controlled by the U.S. government. David Kruse, president of CommStock Investments Inc., explained in a 2020 Farm News article. “When markets signal oversupply and that production should be reduced, farm subsidies supplement farmers income enough so that surpluses are instead sustained. Few farmers go broke and consumers get cheap food. Most are happy under this socialist system.”
If you are paying attention to politics, you likely hear some candidates railing against socialism … while speaking in full support for the defense industry and farm subsidies.
For example Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith denounced socialism in her re-election campaign in 2018 but championed the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program in the federal farm bill and increases in defense spending in 2022.
Similarly, President Donald Trump in his 2019 State of the Union Address said, “We are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country,” then jacked up farm subsidies from around $4 billion in 2017 to over $20 billion in 2020.
Some businesses benefit from some occurrences of modern socialism, ergo the hypocrisy.
“Yes, you teach others – then why don’t you teach yourselves” – Romans 2:21?
Bill Crawford is a syndicated columnist from Jackson.
