Congress May Cut Food Aid, Not Farm Aid

"Mr President? Congressional Republican Ideological Purity Commission here. We know that your mandate was for the dismantling of the welfare state -- well, for the part that helps the poor, anyway. So we were, um, puzzled when the White House proposed cutting back on the largest farm subsidies in the proposed budget.

The president wants to lower the maximum subsidies that can be collected each year by any one farm operation from $360,000 to $250,000. He also asked Congress to cut by 5 percent all farm payments, and he wants to close loopholes that enable some growers to annually collect millions of dollars in subsidies.

Instead, Republican committee chairmen are looking to carve savings from nutrition and land conservation programs that are also run by the Agriculture Department. The government is projected to spend $52 billion this year on nutrition programs like food stamps, school lunches and special aid to low-income pregnant women and children. Farm subsidies will total less than half that, $24 billion.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., said the $36 billion food stamp program is a good place to look for savings.

"Come on now, Mr. President. How could you have forgotten? Income redistribution is fine, but only from poor to rich, remember? Try to keep it straight, sir --Take from the poor, give to the rich.

"We've got your back, sir. Now go evict some widows and orphans."