Bloated Farm Bill is veto proof

The election-year Christmas Tree, called by some a Farm Bill, has now passed both houses of Congress by more than a two-thirds, meaning a presidential veto can be overridden.

The budget-buster grants goodies all over the agricultural map, each with the name of a congressman or Senator attached, to aid in their re-election campaign, or result in several large special interest campaign contributions.

President Bush should veto the bill anyway, as a symbol of congressional irresponsibility and log rolling. It is a reproach on the whole system of federal budgeting and spending. Farmers and ranchers who take their business seriously should be embarassed by the bill, as they are painted as little more than slaves in the welfare system.

In these times of record grain prices, yielding record profits to farmers, the bill still provides subsidies for each crop. The bill even makes it tougher for USDA officials to save money. Field hearings must be held to close local ASCS offices or cut personnel administratively.

Even more shameful, the bill provides major increases in spending for food stamps and other federal feeding programs, when not all the money currently available gets used. USDA has resorted to running radio and television ads to entice people to accept the government largesse.

This Farm Bill codifies all the absolute worst abuses of congressional earmarks and quid pro quo lobbyist rewards for big campaign contributions. There deserves to be a public and mass media outcry about this travesty, but most people know so little about agriculture, and care even less, that the bill's passage will be a coronation rather than the condemnation it so richly deserves.