Washington, D.C. (rightcommentary.com): The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday night voted to override President George W. Bush’s veto of the $289 billion farm bill that expands public nutrition programs for poor Americans but does not cut subsidies for wealthy farmers as much as Bush demanded.

Noting that food prices are forecast to rise by five percent this year, lawmakers said it was important to enact the farm bill because it would expand the food stamp program.

The farm bill adds $10.4 billion to nutrition programs over 10 years, including $7.9 billion for food stamps and $1.25 billion for donations to food pantries. Nearly 28 million Americans receive food stamps.

Two-thirds of farm bill spending would go to nutrition. The five-year bill also increases funding for land stewardship and biofuels development. It cuts crop insurance and crop supports by several billion dollars over 10 years.

To carry out a shift in U.S. policy on biofuels, the farm bill cuts the tax credit for corn-based ethanol by 12 percent, to 45 cents a gallon, and creates a $1.01-a-gallon tax credit for ethanol made from cellulose. The bill also has loan guarantees to build cellulosic ethanol plants and would pay farmers to experiment with biomass crops.

The House voted 316-108 to override the veto. With election season at hand, almost half of the House Republicans voted to override.

A two-thirds vote is required for an override (239 votes).

In his veto message, Bush said the farm bill, by failing to cut crop subsidies enough, would send tax dollars to multimillionaire farmers while Americans pay higher grocery bills.

“At a time of high food prices and record farm income, this bill lacks (farm) program reform and fiscal discipline,” Bush wrote in a veto message to Congress. He said the bill increases subsidy rates for 15 crops and runs contrary to U.S. efforts for freer world trade in agriculture.

It was the first veto of farm legislation since Dec. 6, 2005, when President Clinton vetoed a budget-cutting bill that included the “Freedom to Farm” plan.

The Senate scheduled an override vote for Thursday that would enact the bill into law. It would be the second override of 10 vetoes by Bush.

I will post the link to the vote when it’s available on Thomas as a follow up. I suspect the Senate will also override the Veto.