McCain in Iowa: I'd veto the farm bill

Republican presidential candidate John McCain used the nation's leading corn-producing state as his backdrop today to announce he opposed new federal farm legislation.

The presumptive GOP nominee also suggested he would run a different general election campaign in Iowa than did President George W. Bush, who was the first Republican in 20 years to carry the state in winning re-election in 2004.

The Arizona senator's afternoon stop in Iowa was part of a swing through states expected to be competitive in November, as the Democratic nomination remains unsettled. During his first trip to the state since his fourth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses in January, McCain headlined a Des Moines forum aimed at discussing his health care plan.

But McCain said at the outset of the event at the Polk County Convention Complex that provisions in the farm bill to increase payments to farmers were bad economic policy.

“I’d like to start out by saying to you that I have to give you a little straight talk about the farm bill that is winding its way through Congress," McCain told the audience of about 250 people. "I do not support it. I would veto it. I would do that because I believe that these subsidies, the subsidies are unnecessary."

McCain, who has long opposed agricultural subsidies, said later in an interview that he was willing to risk the political backlash in heavily agricultural states such as Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, which also have been among the most competitive electoral battlegrounds in the previous two presidential campaigns.

“At this time, to have an increase in agricultural subsidies when farmers are having higher incomes than at any time in memory, I just think it's legislation that's not in keeping with the economic hard times of America where people are losing their homes and their jobs,” McCain said later in a Des Moines Register interview.

But he said he hoped voters in farm states would appreciate his plan to expand markets for U.S. agricultural products abroad.

"I will open up every market in the world to the most efficient, productive sector of Americas economy and that's our farm and agricultural worker,” he added.

Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat and chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, was meeting with congressional negotiators today trying to work out the details of the new farm bill, which would replace legislation passed in 2002. The bill they were considering would cost more than $280 billion over five years.

“Sen. McCain voted against the last farm bill, ignoring the crucial role of conservation, new forms of biofuels and alternative energy," Harkin spokesman Matt Paul said. "So, it's no surprise he would value a political talking point more than real solutions for the country.”

Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have both spoken favorably about the farm bill. Clinton, in a news release today, urged McCain to join her in supporting the bill.

A Des Moines Register poll in February showed McCain leading Clinton in support from likely Iowa voters, but trailing Obama. McCain edged Clinton in support among independents, but Obama beat McCain among swing voters.

Bush carried Iowa by roughly 10,000 votes in 2004, by increasing his margins in Iowa's most Republican counties. McCain said he would make a more concerted effort to reach swing voters.

"I don't mean to try to compare myself to what turned out to be a successful campaign, except to say that my message is that I'm going to be the president of all Americans," McCain said. "And in tough economic times, it is imperative that we work together."

McCain's Iowa trip was part of a week-long focus on health care, beginning with the rollout of a plan in Florida on Tuesday. McCain campaigned in Pennsylvania Wednesday, and Ohio today before coming to Iowa.

McCain's health care plan is aimed at encouraging Americans to choose their health insurance plans, make them portable and reduce costs through competition.

The roughly 70 percent of insured Americans who receive coverage through their jobs are not taxed for the costs of their insurance.

A key provision of McCain's plan would be defining as taxable income what employers spend on an employee's health benefits. The higher taxes would be offset by refundable tax credits of $5,000 per family. The goal is to encourage the industry to compete in the health insurance market.

McCain's campaign policy advisers have said it is possible that some higher-income workers who have more expensive health insurance could end up paying higher taxes as a result of the switch.

McCain, who has said he would oppose increasing taxes, dismissed the idea that his plan was the equivalent of a tax increase for some.

"If they want to have a gold-plated health care plan and pay higher premiums, that's their choice. I'm not mandating that they do that," McCain said. I don't think it increases taxes. It's a matter of choice."

U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, has said he is considering a proposal like McCain's as a way to help lower overall health care costs.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate George Eichhorn from Stratford said the possibility that some people would pay higher taxes does not undermine McCain's tax pledge. However, Eichhorn stopped short of saying he supports the idea. It's a good thing to look at," he said. "You're talking about a preliminary plan."

Unlike Obama and Clinton, McCain does not advocate expanding government health insurance plans or mandate that all Americans receive coverage, as Clinton does, or all children, as Obama does.