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Anything you can do, I can do better...
By Seymour Klierly While the scene isn't quite as picturesque as Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, and the performers aren't nearly as entertaining as Annie Oakley, the tune being sung by the Senate Ag Chairman sure sounds the same. As a couple of lawmakers leaked a few new farm bill proposals this week, Chairman Harkin quickly reacted by either adopting them or tweaking them a bit to make them his own. First came Senator Max Baucus, D-MT, chairman of the ever powerful tax and trade writing Finance Committee, with a permanent disaster assistance program. Senator Baucus plans to use his committee to create a trust fund for producers to use in times of hardship caused by Mother Nature. While details of how the program would work have not been released, several members have stated they support the concept. Just the week prior to Baucus' announcement, Chairman Harkin questioned the need for a permanent program. Now, supposedly after he's realized he can pick up a couple votes, he's warming up to the idea and is working with Baucus to possibly incorporate the disaster program into his next proposal. Next comes the revenue plan. Just before the August break, the House passed a farm bill which included an optional counter cyclical revenue based program. Under the House plan, producers have the option to sign up under the old price based plan or the new national revenue plan. Chairman Harkin had been skeptical of a revenue program because they generally come with a high price tag. However, just this week, Harkin told reporters an option plan may work and be a good way to change the commodity title. And finally we turn to the latest about-face. Roughly two weeks ago, a draft of the Harkin commodity title was leaked to the press and subsequently the world. That draft outlined no changes to the direct payments section. This week, however, Senators Kent Conrad, D-ND, and the lead Republican on the Ag Committee, Saxby Chambliss, R-GA, leaked information on a draft commodity title that proposes to tie direct payments to price and reduce those payments when prices are high. This proposal immediately drew criticism from pro-trade and pro-direct payments members. But it also opened the door for Chairman Harkin to once again change his tune. Early in the week, he told a group of reporters he, too, is looking to make cuts to direct payments, mirroring what was reported in the Conrad/Chambliss package. How surprising... Many in the media have criticized the Senate for moving so slowly on the farm bill. It may not be fair to criticize the Senate as a whole, in this case, if the authorizing committee's leader continues to change his plan. The result of such frequent policy shifts may be a longer term extension of the current farm bill. This idea has floated around in the background for months, but seems to be moving closer to the foreground every day. Who knows, if one or two influential members start pushing for the extension, maybe the chairman will again claim he can do it too.
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