Senate Farm Bill Misses the Mark

For those who have been closely following the farm bill fight, it’s old news that another milestone has been reached in efforts to reauthorize the farm bill. For those who, in this holiday season, have more important things to think about than the arcane parliamentary proceedings of the Senate, what you need to know is that despite a majority of support for several reform-oriented amendments, the Senate passed bill is the equivalent of a big lump of coal to fill your Christmas Stockings. The process was a fairly rocky one – Ken Cook over at the Mulch Blog has a good post on the tricky politics behind the process and outcome. In the end, despite the well coordinated efforts of groups like Bread for the World, Oxfam, The Environmental Working group, Environmental Defense, Taxpayers for Common Sense, and scores of others, reform efforts were thwarted.