Kent Conrad: “the other day the administration issued a veto threat against the farm bill that is pending before the body. More…”

“the other day the administration issued a veto threat against the farm bill that is pending before the body. More precisely, the President didn't say he would veto the bill, his aides said they would recommend to the President the veto if the bill that is currently pending before the Senate went to the President. We all know what that means in this town. It may sound like gobbledygook to almost anybody listening, but there is a nuance to what they are saying. The nuance is they are seeking negotiating leverage. That is what this is all about. At the end of the day, I don't think the President is going to veto the farm bill. I think that would be a very unwise move on his part. But I rise today to talk about the chief complaint they raised. They asserted there is too much spending in this farm bill, so I thought it might be useful to look at the President's proposal and how much it spends compared to the spending that is in this farm bill. Since they are asserting there is too much spending in the farm bill that has passed out of the Senate Agriculture Committee, that is before the whole body now, what about their proposal? Here is what I found. These are not my numbers. These are the estimates of the Congressional Budget Office. They say the bill before us that came out of the Senate Agriculture Committee will cost $285.8 billion over the next 5 years. But look at what they found the President's bill would cost over 5 years. Again, this is not my estimate.…”