In his "Notes from Washington" column today, James R. Carroll of The Courier-Journal steps back and takes a longer look at last week's Farm Bill machinations: "In the end, everybody says, there will be a farm bill. But getting there? Drama! Hyperbole! Accusations! Hugs (almost)! Smiles! Anger! Frowns! Threats! And that was just last week.
"The Farm Bill authorizes various agriculture, nutrition, conservation and bioenergy programs for another five years. As you might imagine, that kind of legislation draws amendments like manure draws flies. (Not that the legislation necessarily is manure -- we're just trying to use a farm analogy here).
"GOP senators, led by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, think the Democratic majority is trying to unfairly restrict the number of Republican amendments to the bill, while the Democrats say the Republicans are trying to hold up or even kill the bill. Complicating things: The Bush administration threatened to veto the measure."
McConnell and Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., seemed to reach common ground on a way to handle amendments, prompting Reid to say he felt like hugging McConnell. "They didn't actually hug, which probably was a good thing since both sides were as mad as wet hens later in the week," Carroll writes. (Read more)
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