Politico

Bush to veto farm bill, Shafer says

May 8th, 2008 · 1 Comment

Agriculture Secretary Ed Shafer said flatly Thursday that President Bush will veto the farm bill, setting up an election-year confrontation that could sorely test the loyalties of rural Republicans.

“I have visited face to face with our president and he was direct and clear,” Schafer said. “The president will veto this bill.”

Meeting with reporters at his department, the secretary was openly disdainful of new income caps in the farm bill, which seek to bar wealthy individuals from receiving direct payment subsidies. “Is there even one farm that would be removed from the program with these taxpayer-supported payouts?” Schafer asked in a mocking tone.

Budget gimmicks disguise as much as $10 billion in excess spending in the bill over the next decade, Schafer said, and he bluntly accused the authors of having “done a disservice to farmers and ranchers and importantly the taxpayers across this great land.”

But beyond the tough words, it is still an open question as to how far the administration will go to pressure Republicans to fall in line if the Democratic Congress should attempt to override a Bush veto.

Both Virginia Rep. Robert Goodlatte and George Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the ranking Republicans on the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, are actively working for the package, and much could turn on a set of agriculture-related tax breaks added to help build Republican support in the Senate.

Those benefiting include Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who won a concession for the thoroughbred horse industry worth $126 million over 10 years, according to new details released Thursday.

“I am disappointed,” Peterson said of the president’s veto posture. But he took heart, he said, that Goodlatte believes the White House will allow Republicans to vote their House districts. And while McConnell is unlikely to take a lead role on any veto override, he will vote for the bill once it passes the House.

“It is always a difficult vote,” said Sen. Jon Kyl, the Senate Republican whip. But for rural state Republicans, the farm bill may be more difficult this time because of who is running for president.

Arizona Sen. Jon McCain, the party’s presumptive nominee, has a long record of criticizing farm programs; at the same time, if a Democrat were to win the White House, Republicans fear even higher spending.

Rep. Tom Latham (R-Iowa), a friend of both Peterson and Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said that these concerns among Republicans could make it possible to override a Bush veto. And after surviving a tough reelection campaign in 2006, Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.) was quick to call on Bush to sign the bill?even after Schafer’s comments.

“What the votes are, where they are is going to depend on the legislators’ consciences,” Schafer said, as if stepping back from the fray. “If they are going to continue to vote against the taxpayers and against the long-term interests of farmers and ranchers in this country, then that’s the way they are going to vote.”

The secretary spoke just minutes after — and blocks away from — a rival press conference on Capitol Hill where farm bill negotiators had released a more detailed outline of the proposal to be filed next Tuesday.

Technical changes could still be made, since the Congressional Budget Office has yet to complete a full scoring of the five-year, $300 billion-plus measure. But the measure includes a major expansion of funding for nutrition programs even as the traditional commodity title spending shrinks as a percentage of total spending.

Fruit and vegetable growers are promised new assistance, and an additional $4 billion is provided for conservation programs. More than in the past, energy programs are part of the mix, including loan guarantee programs for the construction of commercial-scale bio-refineries and an adjustment in tax credits to favor a shift from corn ethanol to cellulosic biofuels.

“The White House seems intent on destroying the harvest just as the seeds are being planted,” complained Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). Repeatedly, he and other proponents spoke of the farm bill as a “food bill,” a reference to its huge investment in nutrition program.

Thursday night, non-profits such as Bread for the World were undecided on a veto override. But the commitment to nutrition programs could help build support in any final showdown with Bush.