Word: petersons
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EVEN BEFORE THE Agriculture Committee began work on the farm bill, chairman Peterson took Pelosi to meet with farm groups and warned her that Democratic freshmen in rural districts might lose seats if farm programs were revamped. Reformers countered with polls showing support for strict payment limits in those districts, and an analysis showing that most of those districts would receive more money under Kind-Flake through conservation payments. But as a Pelosi aide told them, it didn't matter whether the danger was real; it only mattered that freshmen Democrats believed it. The aggies flew in hundreds of farmers...
...Peterson achieve this consensus? By buying off the reform factions. California Representative Dennis Cardoza and the fruit-and-vegetable lobby agreed to support the bill once Peterson threw $1.6 billion at specialty crops. He added $4.7 billion for nutrition, $4.5 billion for conservation and $100 million for black farmers, which brought progressives, sportsmen and the Congressional Black Caucus into the fold. Even the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition dropped its opposition for scraps: $5 million for organic research, $22 million for organic certification and $30 million to help farmers sell value-added products. "The programs that really benefit small farmers are tiny...
...Peterson still had to pay for the extras. He considered trimming the widely ridiculed direct payments, which were originally supposed to be transitional. But the methadone had become the heroin. "I don't like direct payments myself, but they're political reality," Peterson says. "I needed them in there to keep everyone on board." In fact, the House bill increased the maximum direct payment 50%. And cutting easier-to-defend payments for times of low crop prices was even less realistic...
...instead of cutting farm spending--which accounted for less than nutrition spending--Peterson persuaded Pelosi to pry money out of the Ways and Means Committee by closing a loophole that helps foreign firms duck U.S. tax liabilities. Republicans denounced this back-door tax hike to no avail. "They had every right to scream foul," Kind says. "There was no vetting in Ways and Means, no hearings, no markup. My party just grabbed $10 billion to buy off the opposition." Democratic leaders then squelched an amendment that would have forced an up-or-down vote on eliminating subsidies for farmers earning...
Pelosi allowed a vote on Kind-Flake--or, as the farm groups called it, "Kinda-Flakey"--but this time it was crushed, 309 to 117. "I had two members tell me they felt sorry for Ron, I was stomping him so bad," Peterson said with a grin. "If I had put down the hammer, I could've taken him under 100." As they watched the debate, with its predictable tributes to hardworking family farmers, frustrated reformers filled out "Farm Bill Bingo" cards with aggie catchphrases like "farmer-friendly," "dismantling the safety net" and "East Coast media...