- Farm-state members of Congress returning home empty-handed, can’t campaign on farm bill, Associated Press, September 19, 2012, Washington Post: “Farm-state members of Congress have campaigned for decades on the back of farm bills delivering election-season subsidies and other goodies to rural voters. Not this year. The bill is stalled, primarily because House GOP leaders don’t want a noisy fight over food stamps this close to the election. That poses a particular problem for some Republicans in tight races for the Senate or the House who will go home empty-handed when Congress adjourns this week…”
- House GOP punts on farm bill, By Alan Silverleib, September 20, 2012, CNN: “House Republican leaders announced Thursday they will not take action on a new farm bill until after the November elections — a sign of sharp internal GOP divisions on a critical political issue for many members of Congress. ‘We will deal with the farm bill after the election,’ said Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. ‘The current situation that we face is we’ve got people who believe there’s not enough reform in the farm bill that came out of (the House Agriculture) committee, (and) we’ve got others who believe that there’s too much reform in the bill that came out of the committee.’ Boehner indicated GOP leaders do not believe they currently have the votes to pass either a short-term extension or a more comprehensive five-year measure…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty