Farm bill with cuts to food stamps splits Democrats

http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2013/05/14/house-farm-bill-with-cuts-food-stamps-splits-commitee-democrats-jim-mcgovern-opposed/G4GRMFo1QvEDpXE7RUm4vL/story.html

The House Agriculture Committee will consider a farm bill Wednesday that contains a $20.5 billion cut over 10 years to the food stamp program, drawing objections from committee member James McGovern, Democrat of Worcester.

But McGovern is unlikely to halt the measure’s progress. Even some of his fellow minority Democrats on the committee want to keep the bill on track because of their desire to continue agricultural subsidies in rural districts.

“This farm bill is not worth advancing if there is a $20 billion cut in SNAP,” McGovern said, using the acronym for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. “There are some people who think we ought to just go along with this, even though we don’t like it. But my view is that if we do that, we have no leverage in conference.”