This is devastating stuff, because we’re in the midst of a campaign and the Democrats trying to convince farmers and ranchers in drought-stricken regions of the fruited plain that President Bush doesn’t care about them. The Democrats are whining that Bush isn’t authorizing additional federal spending to help bail these people out in the midst of this disaster. It’s a total lie. The money is in the farm bill, as Mr. Bush has said.
In fact, one of the reasons the farm bill is so expensive is because they just decided to incorporate what Daschle describes as “ad hoc disaster payments” in it. So why is Daschle the one running around with all the Democrats claiming that Bush doesn’t care? Answer: Daschle