Thursday, April 23, 2009

Poll: Most back Obama in fight over farm subsidies

The Obama administration has faced a tough fight trying to cut farm subsidies in next year's budget. Farm-state lawmakers have fought tooth and nail to block any effort to cut subsidies. But according to a new poll conducted by WorldPublicOpinion.com most Americans support the administration's efforts.

"Clearly, U.S. policy on farm subsidies is far out of step with the preferences of the American public," said Steven Kull, director of the firm. "The vast majority of U.S. subsidies go to large farming businesses on a regular annual basis. However, only one in three Americans approve of subsidies to large farming businesses and less than one in six approve doing so on a regular annual basis."

The polling data did not indicate any strong partisan split on the issue, and little difference between major agricultural states and others. (Read more)

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