RICK CRAWFORD: For the farmers before he was against them.

  • RICK CRAWFORD: For the farmers before he was against them.

Again, feel free to consider the source, as I asked the other day when a Democratic campaigner noted that U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin, an outspoken opponent of earmarks, nonetheless voted against the repeal of existing earmarks that benefit Republican congressmen’s interests.

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Here we go again. It’s one you can decide on the merits. No loaded words need be employed.

Agriculture subsidies.

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They are the lifeblood of a vast swath of the Arkansas Delta. A lot of people, including many urban Democrats, don’t like them. The Republican Party has been even more critical of subsidies to farmers. And so it is that U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford of Jonesboro, who rose to prominence as an agricultural news reporter on the radio, has fallen in line behind Republican budget proposals that call for huge cuts in agriculture subsidies.

Democrats naturally want to call attention to this. You’d think it might be an issue in the fall: Cheer Rick Crawford for cutting farm welfare payments to fat agribusinesses. Or jeer him for bleeding the Arkansas farm family.

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Then there’s food stamps. Crawford voted yesterday to cut money for that program. Lots of people on food stamps in his district. Farmers have traditionally been among the biggest supporters of food stamps, since they grow food. But you have to save money somewhere to keep millionaires in tax cuts.

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