“And if you look at how [crop insurance] has worked in the 7 years prior to the onset of the drought of 2011, basically the Federal Government actually made money on Federal crop insurance.” — House Committee on Agriculture Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) during debate of the farm bill, June 19, 2013.

Gotta love Congressional accounting.                 

Between 2004 and 2010, the federal crop insurance program generated $34.7 billion in premium income.

Between 2004 and 2010, the federal crop insurance program paid $28.9 billion in claims.

                $34.7 – $28.9 = $5.8 billion. Looks like a sweet profit.

But these “profits” ignore a simple fact – the government actually wrote the check for nearly 2/3 of the tab for that $34.7 billion in premium income. When you add in the subsidies we give farmers and ranchers to buy insurance, the subsidies we give companies to sell the insurance, and the fact we cover most losses in excess of premiums, that sweet $5.8 billion in profits turns into a sour $29.8 billion bill for running this program.

And using 2004-2010 is a great sleight of hand. Using a full 10-year window instead, how program costs are calculated in Washington, shows that taxpayers have spent $58.7 billion on the crop insurance program this last decade.

Maybe they use a different kind of long division in Longworth?