Bush Is Said to Seek Sharp Cuts in Subsidy Payments to Farmers

From the The New York Times

President Bush will seek deep cuts in farm and commodity programs in his new budget and in a major policy shift will propose overall limits on subsidy payments to farmers, administration officials said Saturday.

Such limits would help reduce the federal budget deficit and would inject market forces into the farm economy, the officials said.

The proposal puts Mr. Bush at odds with some of his most ardent supporters in the rural South, including cotton and rice growers in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi.

If he follows through, I will give him more credit for being principled than I have in the past. The real test will be whether he will do the same thing for oil companies.