Marco Rubio is a conservative senator with a record of opposing corporate welfare in all corners of the economy, except one. That would be in the swampy fields of South Florida, where they grow sugar cane.

Rubio supports the federal sugar program, with its special cheap loans and its blatant protectionism. This is to the detriment of U.S. consumers and foodmakers, and to the benefit of a handful of sugar magnates, including some of his earliest fundraisers.

Amidst the jungle of crony capitalism, corporate welfare, and federal boondoggles that Congress has created, the sugar program may be the least defensible. Here’s what it does:

First, through prohibitive tariffs, our government effectively limits the amount of foreign-grown sugar allowed to enter the United States. By throttling imports, government reduces the supply of sugar, thus increasing the price. In the U.S., raw sugar sold for 24.46 cents per pound in the third quarter of this year, according to U.S.D.A. figures. In the rest of the world, the price was 11.29 cents per pound.

Read the full article at the American Enterprise Institute: Marco Rubio needs to get past his sugar problem