The Politico today describes the ongoing fight over the farm bill as a “comedy of errors.”
“An entire winter wheat crop will soon have come and gone in the months House-Senate negotiators have dithered,” writes David Rogers. Now there is another deadline for finishing talks between the House and the Senate: April 18.
Rogers explains the politics of the situation, as the House and Senate negotiators allocate funding within the extremely complex piece of legislation. One of the problems is that farm bill finances are so fluid. With commodity prices high, there is less of a need for crop subsidies. There is, however, a growing demand for food stamps.
Meanwhile, there is the usual Congressional hijinks. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (above) — from Kentucky — recently put in a $489 million tax break for thoroughbred horse breeders.
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