Coleman will help fight Farm Bill veto

posted by Edward Felker, P-B Washington Bureau

Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn. and a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, told reporters Thursday that he backs the Farm Bill emerging from talks between the House and Senate and will work to see the Senate override a threatened Bush veto.

"The president has indicated today he will veto the Farm Bill. That would be a terrible mistake," Coleman said in his weekly press call. "The president's wrong if he vetoes the Farm Bill. I will work hard to override that veto. Perhaps it won't get to that point."

Both he and Rep. Tim Walz, D-Mankato, who sits on the House Agriculture Committee, on Thursday defended the bill against claims by Bush and the Environmental Working Group, among others, that the proposed final bill does too little to curtail payouts to wealthy farmers and wealthy farm owners who make significant non-farm income.

Walz, in his own conference call with reporters Thursday, said he believes the final product, though not yet published, will be "good bill for Minnesota."  He said the president is holding up the bill over what Walz characterized as the relatively narrow area of direct subsidies, which are paid no matter what the market price of the crop. Walz noted that while they could come down more, they are being cut by $313 million over five years.

The president is also reportedly balking at higher income limits than he proposed, with farmers making up to $1.9 million a year in combined farm and non-farm income still able to receive subsidies, well above the $200,000 annual limit Bush sought and near the $2.5 million current limit.

Walz thinks the votes are there to override a veto, at least in the Senate, based on what he's heard. But in the House? "I think we're getting them over here," Walz ventured.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who also sits on the Senate Agriculture Committee, was largely quiet about the bill on Thursday. She put out a statement in support of the tentative House-Senate deal on Saturday did not react to the president's veto threat.

Coleman is running for a second six year term in the Senate, while Walz is seeking his second two-year term in the House.

Comments

[Martin]

While I appreciate the fact that Norm Coleman is choosing to cross partisan lines to oppose this veto, I have a hard time believing that this isn't just political posturing. Coleman doesn't exactly have a record of standing up for Minnesota when it involves opposing the president, but this year the underlying theme of his campaign seems to be his ability to cross partisan lines. I'm not really buying, but nonetheless, I appreciate that he's actually doing it for once.