As Barlett and Steele document in excruciating detail, one of the common results is health-threatening pollution that goes unchallenged. The most vulnerable neighborhoods tend to be where low-income people live. ADM is also an underwriter of National Public Radio news. And the savvy firm buys a lot of image ads on commercial TV network programs that discuss political issues. Not surprisingly, ADM hasn't been subjected to much tough reporting on the national airwaves.
Corporate welfare is an important issue.
But it can easily be spun in dubious directions. It would be a big mistake to equate government aid to dependent corporations with safety-net subsidies for children, seniors and others struggling at the bottom rungs of the economic ladder. Government should not be using tax dollars to help the rich get richer. But government has no business refusing to help Americans get the nutrition, health care, housing and other basics that are everyone's human right. The need to speak up and take action is a burden that falls on people in every community.