What little attention the national media and the presidential candidates pay to agriculture, is largely tied to the myth that the Bush administration has shortchanged farmers and is in the pocket of big agribusiness.
The truth is that the Democrats, and not the Republicans, are the ones who cannot pull their act together to pass a new Farm Bill, despite the months we are now past the expiration of the old one. Senate Ag Committee chairman, Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, keeps turning out bills that Montana Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Finance Committee, keeps rejecting. Surely the two could quit sending out angry press releases aimmed at each other, and instead sit down for 15 minutes and hack something out.
The situation in the House isn't much better. House Ag committee chairman Colin Peterson of Minnesota can't get Speaker Nancy Pelosi or House Ways and Means committee chairman Charles Rangel of New York to agree on his priorities either. All want to add $10 billion in new spending to the Farm Bill, but can't decide how to spend it. Some want $2.5 billion for a permanent ag disaster fund, while Baucus in particular, wants $5.1 billion.
The betting here is that an extension of the existing Farm Bill will wind up being passed, until a new President is seated in 2009 and rejiggered Congressional majorities can figure things out. If somehow, a Farm Bill with $10 billion in new ag spending did pass both houses of Congress, President Bush would probably veto it, sending everybody back to square one.
Count on it. It'll be the old Farm Bill for one more year.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment