In a recent Victual Reality column, I gave John McCain his due for holding fast to his positions against crop and biofuel subsidies -- even if his overall farm policies generally suck.
In an attempt to boost his flailing campaign and shore up support in the Farm Belt, the self-declared maverick may be abandoning those positions. Check out his recently announced Farm and Ranch Team [PDF]. The list veritably bristles with pro-agribusiness politicians and flacks, including may who have pimped for ag and biofuel subsidies.
We find Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R.-Big Cotton), a man who has staked his career on bringing home fat government checks to Georgia's large-scale cotton farmers; William L. Jones, chairman of Pacific Ethanol -- a company that will almost certainly fail if the government pulls the plug on ethanol goodies; and Pepe Fanjul of Florida Crystals, the biggest of Big Sugar magnates, a man whose vast family fortune relies directly on the U.S. government's sugar quotas (against which McCain has railed in the past).
Those are just names that represent ag interests McCain allegedly opposes.
Then there's Jay Vroom of CropLife America -- a pressure group representing Monsanto and other agrichemical/GMO interests; Tracy Brunner, president of Kansas Livestock Association (i.e., Big Beef); two former presidents of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association; and on and on.
Barack Obama's own list of farm supporters [PDF] hardly brings comfort, with its "Six former leaders of the National Corn Growers Association," but it's hardly the corporate-flack roster released by McCain.
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Comments
View as Flat
VangelV Posted 10:58 pm
12 Oct 2008
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Delay And Deny Posted 2:04 am
13 Oct 2008
You're ridiculous.
Barry Obama's campaign is funded entirely by Big Corn.
He comes from Illinois -- a corn state.
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RDMiller Posted 2:48 am
13 Oct 2008
Why do you continue to make useless posts that add nothing to the depth of discussion here at Grist?
I believe Saluki was just removed from this site for a similar reason. Do you not pay attention?
Three posts from you in the past hour and not one line of value in any of them.
I'm sure the management at Grist is watching you on a short string. If you don't have anything of value to contribute, why not just leave on your own...or perhaps you enjoy being asked to leave? I know I get nothing of value from your posts, and I suspect that's true for most other folks here.
Richard
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Delay And Deny Posted 3:09 am
13 Oct 2008
Mr. Obama is running as a reformer who is seeking to reduce the influence of special interests. But like any other politician, he has powerful constituencies that help shape his views. And when it comes to domestic ethanol, almost all of which is made from corn, he also has advisers and prominent supporters with close ties to the industry at a time when energy policy is a point of sharp contrast between the parties and their presidential candidates.
Take that, Barnacle.
http://you-read-it-here-first.com/viewtopic.php?t=559& ...
defn: A Barnacle is a person who haunts Usenet Newsgroups, Bulletin Boards and Fora. They offer a narrow interpretation of the purpose of the board, sometimes bordering on the absurd, or do to their own misinterpretation of the original charter. They make their living by calling almost anyone who disagrees with, or offers dissenting opinions a "troll" (which is grammatically incorrect because troll is a verb, not a noun...as in, to troll for shrimp).
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RDMiller Posted 4:12 am
13 Oct 2008
Thank you for reinforcing my point.
I'll let the powers that be decide how to handle you. In the meantime, I'll try my best to ignore you. I figure that's what most folks here are doing.
Richard
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wendigo Posted 8:31 am
13 Oct 2008
You can also troll for a troll. It's easy and fun, like this:
Boy, that Obama sure is great. Hopefully he'll put an end to this hydrogen economy nonsense, and focus on controlling sprawl.
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Biodiversivist Posted 1:27 pm
13 Oct 2008
I wish there were two Democrats running for office so I could vote for the one that didn't pander to corn interests. McCain has decided not to pander to corn interests for now but then, he changes stances faster than I can blink and just about as often.
In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world
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czimm Posted 12:48 pm
14 Oct 2008
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