Americans tend to support the art of compromise. In the real world, if everyone’s willing to give a little, it’s usually possible to reach a deal everyone can live with.

Washington, however, isn’t the real world.

Here a “compromise” spending bill doesn’t require any lawmaker to give up any pork project. In fact, most deals end up increasing spending substantially -- and sticking taxpayers with the bill.

Take the latest farm bill.

The Senate is considering legislation that would boost subsidies by at least $10 billion over the next decade, even though farmers are already reporting near-record incomes. The measure ups subsidies for the usual suspects: wheat, milk, sugar, peanuts, barley and oats. It also contains a new biofuel subsidy: $1 million per year for camelina seeds.

In addition, the bill would set aside more than $5 billion for a disaster trust fund. No doubt this fund will be used frequently; in recent years, almost two-thirds of the nation’s 3,141 counties were declared agriculture “disaster” areas. Can the rest of the nation be far behind?

Even the most plugged-in Washington insiders were blindsided by the size and scope of this bill. President Bush had declared he’d veto any irresponsible spending measures, and congressional conservatives thought they had the votes to swat down any new farm subsidies. “There’s very little left for a lot of things,” Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, complained just two months ago.

Then those Washington “compromises” started happening.

Expanded giveaways for peanut farmers won support from southern senators. Drought relief picked up votes in the west. Suddenly a massive spending bill had plenty of support and was headed for the Senate floor. That’s one way compromise proves costly. Continued...