Senate Breaks Deadlock On Farm Bill

The Senate finally broke a deadlock late last night that could have killed the farm bill. Both parties agreed on 73 amendments to the bill, which has now ballooned to more than 1,000 pages. But they voted down more than 200 other amendments. The main sticking points were foreign policy and budgetary amendments unrelated to the farm bill. This version of the bill would stresses crop insurance and would eliminate direct payments to farmers even when they don't plant crops. The bill faces an uphill battle in the House, where GOP lawmakers want to keep direct payments for Southern rice and peanut farmers.