Webster's definition:
[h=2]sub·si·dy[/h] noun \ˈsəb-sə-dē, -zə-\: money that is paid usually by a government to keep the price of a product or service low or to help a business or organization to continue to function
plural sub·si·dies
[h=2]Full Definition of SUBSIDY[/h]: a grant or gift of money: as
a : a sum of money formerly granted by the British Parliament to the crown and raised by special taxation
b : money granted by one state to another
c : a grant by a government to a private person or company to assist an enterprise deemed advantageous to the public
Subsidies, in the end, raise costs, raises taxes and limits competition. The Federal government should not be involved in the business of the State or the individual. States should not be involved in business.
ALL government should have small, well defined roles, that are paid for by as small a tax that is needed and no more. The tax should be fair, as in one rate and everyone pays. No more freebies.
The idea that allowing people/business/organizations to keep what is rightfully their's in the first place is somehow a subsidy is VERY Marxist and assumes that somehow the government has a RIGHT to other's private property, which it does not.
All the subsidies, and our punitive tax codes, have done is run us into debt. You can't buy what you don't have the money to buy. Passing out borrowed monies, to buy votes, is what has led us to the point we are today. This congress, this administration, is carrying on the tradition of graft and corruption of the past, only taking it to new heights.
The worst subsidy of all is welfare. The absolute best way to bring a person up is to insure that they stand on their own two feet. The welfare system we have today is there to create dependency, not self reliance. Dependent people are controllable.
Government grows to justify itself. It must gain power to grow. The more power it has the more it harms those it governs. They become addicted to power, out of touch with the realities that the People are living with. They must expand their reach, their power, their control over the People, to feed that addiction. Tyranny is often the end result.