After stunning defeat, lawmakers scramble to salvage farm bill

[WestVirginiaRebel]

The Hill:

Supporters of a five-year farm bill are scrambling to pick up the pieces after the measure went down in stunning defeat in the House.

Thursday's 195-234 vote to kill the $940 billion package blindsided proponents, who were confident of the bill's success and are now struggling in search of a plan to resuscitate it.

GOP leaders say they've made no decisions about the next step, but the heads of the House Agriculture Committee – Reps. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) and Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) – spoke Thursday afternoon in an early show that they're still hoping to prevent the need for any short-term extensions of current farm policy.

"We'll figure it out," Peterson said to Lucas just after the vote.

Whether that's possible in the face of a divided House, a recalcitrant GOP conference and the thorny politics surrounding the package, however, is by no means certain.

Farm bills have historically won overwhelming support from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. But despite pressure from GOP leaders, 62 Republicans opposed the package Thursday – many more than supporters expected – while only 24 Democrats backed the measure.

The vote was an embarrassing defeat for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), reviving doubts about his decision to consider the bill via regular order and, more broadly, his ability to rally his own troops behind legislation of any significance.

________

 

Save Our Pork.

[NCTexan]

Save Our Pork.

 

It's more like saving the "bacon" of the politicians push the pork.