This week, Congress approved a five-year $307 billion dollar farm bill with extensive bipartisan support, which, says the NY Times, virtually seals President Bush’s defeat in this ongoing battle over agricultural policy. There’s been a lot of debate over the bill – whom it benefits, and what its greater effects will be over time. Of course, a $307 billion dollar plan for anything can’t, at least in most cases, simply be labeled good or bad. The complexity of the bill is introduced below by Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, the senior Republican on the agriculture panel:

“Obviously, I have been very disappointed in the comments coming out of the White House,” Mr. Chambliss said. “But we do have a strong vote in both the House and the Senate, and I think that shows you that in a complex piece of legislation like this, and it truly is because it touches so many different areas of so many different aspects of agriculture and food production, as well as nutrition and conservation and energy, that there is something in this bill for every member of the House and every member of the Senate.” [NY Times]

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