10/15/08 Campaigns Speak

Campaign's Speak. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. We have been following a forum from last week conducted by the Farm Foundation to find out what each Presidential hopeful's campaign has to say about agriculture. The candidates were represented by former Assistant Secretary of Ag, Jim Webster for Barak Obama & former Ag Secretary John Block for John McCain. More of their opening statements beginning with Jim Webster. WEBSTER: Immigration. Senator Obama has said a goal of his first year will be to complete comprehensive immigration reform. The kind of reform both he and Senator McCain supported a couple of years ago before the campaign started and Senator McCain walked away from his own bill. But really focusing on farm programs, the farm bill is what separates these two candidates most starkly in rural America. As recently as yesterday, Senator McCain continued to flaunt his desire to get rid of federal support for rural America. I want quote from remarks he made just last Wednesday. "And my administration," Senator McCain said, "will reduce the price of food by eliminating the subsidies for ethanol and agricultural goods. These subsidies inflate the price of food not only for American's but for people in poverty around the world. And I propose to abolish them." I don't know many farmers that think farm programs inflate the price of food. In fact most crop producers I know say they have tended to depress the price of grains. And now John Block. BLOCK: Let's turn the page to trade. John McCain is a free trader. He says it. He practices it, he's always supported it; supports trade agreements. Bilateral trade agreements, multilateral trade agreements and you've heard Obama is not too happy with these. He wants to rewrite the North American Free Trade Agreement which you can't do. I mean you could but we'd loose all of our credibility in the world if we try to rewrite an agreement that we've already put together. And we can't get the passage of the Columbia Trade Agreement or the Korean Trade Agreement because Nancy Pelosi won't let them go forward and get them voted on. And you've not heard Senator Obama say let's go pass those agreements because we can sell more beef and we can sell more products to Columbia. More tomorrow. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.