President-elect Barack Obama named Peter Orszag to the post of White House budget director, then went on to promise what every new President promises while introducing the new budget Director..”review the budget line by line, blah, blah, blah…” but as The Wall Street Journal mentions, there was a subtle detailed that made this press conference a bit different than the rest…while promising to kill programs “that have outlived their usefulness,” Mr. Obama specifically mentioned farm subsidies for the rich.

That’s a change from his previous position on the bill:

“I applaud the Senate’s passage today of the Farm Bill, which will provide America’s hard-working farmers and ranchers with more support and more predictability.”

What’s more, he slammed President Bush and Senator McCain for their opposition to the bill:


“By opposing the bill, President Bush and John McCain are saying no to America’s farmers and ranchers, no to energy independence, no to the environment, and no to millions of hungry people.”

Political hack that he is, President-elect Obama blasted the people who were doing exactly what he promised to do…curtail pork barrel, and accused President Bush and Senator McCain of playing politics, while he himself was the one actually engaging in partisan political games.

President Bush sought a $200,000 cap on annual subsidy payments, but instead Congress sent him a $300 billion bill in which nearly every crop, from corn to sugar, won subsidy increases. That bill set policy for the next five years.

Senator McCain, vehemently opposed the bill, and was blasted by the Obama camp for taking the same position that now the President-elect wants us to believe he is supporting, AFTER the bill has passed, and become policy for the next five years…one year beyond Mr. Obama’s term in office


“In today’s economy, when hardworking American families buy groceries they feel the sting of misguided federal agriculture polices. Instead of fine tuning our farm programs to improve their efficiency, we’ve allowed them to swell into mammoth government bureaucracies that generally exist to serve special interests at the behest of Congressional benefactors. Sixty-nine years after the Great Depression and the advent of the Farm Bill, well into the 21st Century, commodity prices have reached record highs. I believe American agriculture has progressed to the point where we no longer need government grown farms.” — John McCain

So, when given the opportunity to support cuts in subsidies for the rich, Mr. Obama supported them, instead choosing to attack his opponents for doing exactly what he now has instructed Peter Orszag to do.

Partisan politics as usual.

No change yet folks…stay tuned.

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