Food-stamp rollback complicates Farm Bill talks, could end 'one of the great untold policy battles'

If the Obama administration's position on food-stamp cuts is that there should be none, "it could kill the Farm Bill outright," David Rogers writes for Politico. "Then again, the warring commodity groups are doing a pretty good job themselves — frustrating hopes of a deal before the House goes home Dec. 13."

Rogers, who specializes in covering the politics of agriculture, says the two-year wrangle over the Farm Bill has been "ignored by the national press," but is "one of the great untold policy battles of this Congress. But it’s also now reached a breaking point," with the House seeking $40 billion in food-stamp cuts over the next 10 years and the Senate holding out for no more than $4 billion.

"The Nov. 1 rollback in food stamp benefits — for which President Barack Obama shares responsibility — has greatly complicated the partisan debate over nutrition funding," Rogers reports. "A compromise still seems possible in the range of $10 billion in savings. But the White House dug in deeper Tuesday when Cecilia Munoz, director of the president’s Domestic Policy Council, told reporters that she saw 'no reason' for any further savings from the nutrition program."

"Matched against this bleak picture is the fact that farmers back home are waking up to the price of inaction as corn cash sales have dropped to the $4 per bushel range — down dramatically from a year ago. And after last week’s historic Senate blow-up over filibuster rules, members of both parties see the farm bill as a last beacon of sorts in Congress for bipartisan action," Rogers reports. He goes on to explain other reasons a compromise has been hard to find.