By a strong, veto-proof majority, the House passed a $290 billion farm bill that increases subsidies for farmers and food stamps for the poor amid rising grocery prices while sprinkling in pet projects that lawmakers can take home to voters this election year. The 318-106 vote for the five-year bill precedes a vote today in the Senate. President Bush, saying the measure is too expensive and generous to farmers enjoying record earnings, has promised a veto. The key points:
$200 billion: Food stamps and other domestic nutrition programs such as emergency food assistance.
$43 billion: Subsidies for rice, cotton, corn, soybeans, wheat and other crops.
$27 billion: Conservation programs to set aside or protect environmentally sensitive farmland.
$23 billion: Crop insurance to help farmers protect against losses.
$200 million: Foreign food aid would make up less than 1 percent of the bill, the bulk in annual appropriations bills.
The Associated Press
“A bloated, earmark-laden bill.”
