We at Radio Iowa have written a couple of stories over the past month (here and here) about the political impact of John McCain’s opposition to ethanol subsidies. Last week during a campaign appearance in Missouri, McCain made his harshest declaration yet about ag-related subsidies — not just for ethanol, but farm subsidies in general. McCain argued that subsidies "inflate the price of food, not only for Americans but for people in poverty across the world."
Today, the National Journal’s CongressDaily wrote about it. Here are two main paragraphs:
Mary Kay Thatcher, a lobbyist for the Republican-leaning Farm Bureau, said McCain "needs to understand that eliminating subsidies pits American farmers against farmers around the world and their governments." She warned that dropping subsidies unilaterally would weaken the U.S. bargaining position in trade talks.
Most members of commodity group members are GOP-leaning farmers, but their leaders came down hard on McCain. "It is no accident that American consumers spend less of their disposable income on food than any country in the world," said National Association of Wheat Growers CEO Daren Coppock.
About O.Kay Henderson
Kay is a founding member of the Radio Iowa network newsroom. In 1994, she became the network’s news director. She’s a featured reporter and commentator on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press,” and the 2002 recipient of the Shelley Award.
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