He made the comparison last week and again yesterday. U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack proposes that Congress, according to Reuters, "will need to choose between supporting rich farmers or feeding more hungry children amid a slumping economy and a surging deficit."
"We will do our best to frame this discussion in that way, so that people understand: 30 million children, 90,000 farmers," Vilsack told Reuters after speaking to people who work with the nation's food banks and anti-poverty groups. "It is a tough choice, but it's a choice that folks are going to have to make," he said.
President Obama's budget proposes to phase out direct payments to farmers with sales of over half a million dollars a year. That will save nearly $10 billion over the next ten years. "A cut-off at $500,000 in gross sales is way too low because that affects family farmers, not just big agribusiness. It doesn't take many acres to reach that," said Tom Buis, president of National Farmers Union.