A $290 billion agriculture bill advanced on Capitol Hill despite opposition from the White House, while on grocery-store shelves last month food prices zoomed ahead.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday voted 318-106 in favor of legislation that contains more subsidies for farmers -- many of them wealthy -- as well as big increases in food stamps and other nutrition aid to help the less fortunate. The margin should be enough to overcome a promised veto by President Bush. The farm bill has become a defining issue of the last year of Mr. Bush's presidency. He signed the 2002 farm bill, which didn't make any effort to control government subsidies to farmers, and regretted doing so. The measure frustrated U.S. hopes of securing a global trade deal, amid complaints from poor countries that farm supports distort trade flows. And it undermined Mr. Bush's image as a fiscal conservative. But with action coming against the backdrop of the 2008 election, the House-Senate compromise bill attracted strong support among rank-and-file lawmakers in both parties, especially those who managed to tuck in home-state projects. The measure, apart from boosting food stamps, isn't designed to relieve the pressure on household food budgets, which intensified last month. The Labor Department reported Wednesday that food prices increased 0.9%, their largest one-month increase since January 1990. The good news for consumers is that overall the consumer-price index rose only 0.2% in April, and just 0.1% excluding food and energy. Prices for the latter were unchanged after a 1.9% jump in March. Some economists said the CPI reading suggests the economic slowdown is restraining inflation even amid the long descent of the Federal Reserve's target interest rate. But others remained skeptical of the data and implications that prices are under control. "The remarkable consistency of the across the board increases in food prices emanates from a number of sources, including the soaring energy prices of recent months. To what extent, and when, the energy price onslaught embeds itself into core consumer prices, is an open question," wrote Global Insight U.S. Economist Kenneth Beauchemin.
News 
