Why do we in the United States subsidize cotton farming?

Question

I am not against farming subsidies in general since we would need to grow our own food if there is another major global war, but why subsidize the cotton barrons? This seems like a huge waste of tax payer money just to enrich the politically influential cotton barons. It is cheaper to import atleast some of our cotton.

Answer 1

The problem is that very large benefits go to a few groups who therefore have an incentive to work very hard to keep the subsidies.  The costs are widely distributed - they affect millions of consumers, but the costs are pretty small for each consumer, so they have little incentive to lobby against the subsidies.