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Politics : THE OBAMANATION -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill who wrote (254)	5/12/2008 3:30:08 PM
From: Oral Roberts	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 601

Perhaps there is more behind the slip of the tongue. Did you catch this post? Message 24581973

To: Bill who wrote (254)	5/20/2008 1:58:18 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 601

The $307 billion farm bill that rolled through Congress is a perfect example of the pattern. Farm net income is up 56 percent over the past two years, yet the farm bill plows subsidies into agribusinesses, thoroughbred breeders and the rest. The growers of nearly every crop will get more money. Farmers in the top 1 percent of earners qualify for federal payments. Under the legislation, the government will buy sugar for roughly twice the world price and then resell it at an 80 percent loss. Parts of the bill that would have protected wetlands and wildlife habitat were deleted or shrunk. My colleagues on The Times’s editorial page called the bill “disgraceful.” My former colleagues at The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page ripped it as a “scam.” Yet such is the logic of collective action; the bill is certain to become law. It passed with 81 votes in the Senate and 318 in the House — enough to override President Bush’s coming veto. Nearly everyone in Congress got something. The question amid this supposed change election is: Who is going to end this sort of thing? Barack Obama talks about taking on the special interests. This farm bill would have been a perfect opportunity to do so. But Obama supported the bill, just as he supported the 2005 energy bill that was a Christmas tree for the oil and gas industries. Obama’s vote may help him win Iowa, but it will lead to higher global food prices and more hunger in Africa. Moreover, it raises questions about how exactly he expects to bring about the change that he promises. nytimes.com