“Recipe for Chaos” and the Database to Back it Up

Allowing your elected representatives to amend the 2007 Farm [subsidy] Bill “would be a recipe for chaos,” House Agriculture Committee Chair Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) has proclaimed. The 2007 Farm Bill is cobbled together by environmentalists, budget conservatives, anti-poverty groups, small farm advocates and taxpayer watchdog groups. In short it is a house of cards ready to tumble down at the first sign of pork barrel amendments.

If only proposed $33 billion in direct farm subsidy payments could save us from the Lovecraftian consumption that awaits us!

Yeah, I went there. I can hear it now, “That crazy libertarian has brought it! Politics on Dethroner! Sally forth to flay him in the comments section!”

It’s my fault and I’ll take full responsibility for my action—as any good libertarian should. However, I would like to take this opportunity not to shove the absuridity of politics down your throat but to introduce you to the EWG Farm Bill 2007 Policy Analysis Database.

Yes, it involves politics (and I discovered it while seeking further information on a matter of a political nature). However, I found it to be an excellent example of web (and statistical) geekiness and in my excitement I had to share it with someone.

Please accept my apologies if you don’t find the pairing of giant federal data sets with Google Maps somehow titillating.