La Vida Locavore is the blog for anyone whose crazy life includes planting, growing, weeding, fertilizing, raising, picking, harvesting, processing, cooking, baking, making, serving, buying, selling, distributing, transporting, composting, organizing around, lobbying about, writing about, thinking about, talking about, playing with, and eating food!
Agriculture
Chair: Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
- Max Baucus (D-MT)
- Michael Bennet (D-CO)
- Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
- Bob Casey (D-PA)
- Kent Conrad (D-ND)
- Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
- Tom Harkin (D-IA)
- Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
- Pat Leahy (D-VT)
- Ben Nelson (D-NE)
- Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
- Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
- Thad Cochran (R-MS)
- John Cornyn (R-TX)
- Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
- Mike Johanns (R-NE)
- Dick Lugar (R-IN)
- Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
- Pat Roberts (R-KS)
- John R. Thune (R-SD)
Appropriations
Chair: Daniel Inouye (D-HI) Ag Sub-Committee
Chair: Herb Kohl (D-WI)
- Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
- Dick Durbin (D-IL)
- Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
- Tom Harkin (D-IA)
- Tim Johnson (D-SD)
- Ben Nelson (D-NE)
- Jack Reed (D-RI)
- Robert Bennett (R-UT)
- Christopher Bond (R-MO)
- Sam Brownback (R-KS)
- Thad Cochran (R-MS)
- Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
- Arlen Specter (R-PA)
Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions
- Chris Dodd (D-CT)
Agriculture
Chair: B Collin Peterson (D-MN)
V. Chair: B Tim Holden (D-PA)
B Joe Baca (D-CA)
- John Boccieri (D-OH)
B* Leonard Boswell (D-IA)
- Bobby Bright (D-AL)
B* Dennis Cardoza (D-CA)
- Travis Childers (D-MS)
B Jim Costa (D-CA)
- Henry Cuellar (D-TX)
- Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA)
B Brad Ellsworth (D-IN)
- Debbie Halvorson (D-IL)
B Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD)
- Steve Kagen (D-WI)
- Larry Kissell (D-NC)
B Frank Kratovil (D-MD)
- Betsy Markey (D-CO)
B Jim Marshall (D-GA)
P Eric Massa (D-NY)
B Mike McIntyre (D-NC)
- Walt Minnick (D-ID)
B Earl Pomeroy (D-ND)
- Mark Schauer (D-MI)
- Kurt Schrader (D-OR)
B David Scott (D-GA)
B Zachary Space (D-OH)
- Timothy Walz (D-MN)
- Frank Lucas (R-OK)
- Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
- K. Michael Conaway (R-TX)
- Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE)
- Virginia Foxx (R-NC)
- Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)
- Sam Graves (R-MO)
- Timothy Johnson (R-IL)
- Steve King (R-IA)
- Robert Latta (R-OH)
- Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)
- Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)
- Jerry Moran (R-KS)
- Randy Neugebauer (R-TX)
- Phil Roe (R-TN)
- Mike Rogers (R-AL)
- Jean Schmidt (R-OH)
- Adrian Smith (R-NE)
- Glenn Thompson (R-PA) *=House Organic Caucus member B=Blue Dog Democrat
Appropriations
Chair: Dave Obey (D-WI) Ag Sub-Committee
Chair: P Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
- Sanford Bishop (D-GA)
* Allen Boyd (D-FL)
- Lincoln Davis (D-TN)
*P Sam Farr (D-CA)
*P Maurice D. Hinchey (D-NY)
P Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)
P Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
- Jack Kingston (R-GA)
- Rodney Alexander (R-LA)
- Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO)
* Tom Latham (R-IA) *=House Organic Caucus member
P=Congressional Progressive Caucus
Education and Labor
P Chair: George Miller (D-CA)
- Jason Altmire (D-PA)
- Robert Andrews (D-NJ)
- Timothy Bishop (D-NY)
P Yvette Clarke (D-NY)
- Joe Courtney (D-CT)
- Susan Davis (D-CA)
P Marcia Fudge (D-OH)
P Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
P Phil Hare (D-IL)
- Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX)
P Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
- Rush Holt (D-NJ)
- Dale Kildee (D-MI)
P Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
P Dave Loebsack (D-IA)
- Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)
P Donald Payne (D-NJ)
- Jared Polis (D-CO)
- Robert Scott (D-VA)
- Joe Sestak (D-PA)
- Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH)
P John Tierney (D-MA)
- Dina Titus (D-NV)
- Paul Tonko (D-NY)
P Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)
- David Wu (D-OR)
- Buck McKeon (R-CA)
- Judy Biggert (R-IL)
- Rob Bishop (R-UT)
- Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
- Michael Castle (R-DE)
- Vernon Ehlers (R-MI)
- Luis F Fortuno (R-PR)
- Brett Guthrie (R-KY)
- Peter Hoekstra (R-MI)
- Duncan D. Hunter (R-CA)
- John Kline (R-MN)
- Kenny Marchant (R-TX)
- Tom McClintock (R-CA)
- Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)
- Thomas Petri (R-WI)
- Phil Roe (R-TN)
- Todd Russell Platts (R-PA)
- Tom Price (R-GA)
- Mark Souder (R-IN)
- GT Thompson (R-PA)
- Joe Wilson (R-SC) P=Congressional Progressive Caucus
Apologies for interrupting this food blog with a post about campaigns and elections, but Blanche Lincoln's days are numbered as a U.S. senator from Arkansas. She trails Republican challengers by double-digits in recent polls by Public Policy Polling and Rasmussen. In fact, Lincoln trails her leading Republican challenger by more than 20 points in PPP's poll.
Assuming Lincoln loses, either to a Democratic primary challenger or to a Republican in November, the Senate Agriculture Committee will be needing a new chair in January 2011. Currently, Democrats are expected to retain a majority in the Senate, which would put Debbie Stabenow of Michigan in line to chair the Agriculture Committee. Republicans have a slim chance at winning enough seats to take over the Senate this November. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia would be the likely new chair, since is the ranking Republican on the committee now, but it's possible that the GOP caucus could shuffle things around.
The latest Rasmussen poll from Arkansas shows Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Blanche Lincoln trailing four potential Republican challengers. Rasmussen polls tend to skew a bit towards Republican candidates, so take this with a grain of salt.
On the other hand, this poll was in the field before yesterday's Senate Finance Committee hearing on the health care bill, during which Lincoln was one of three Democrats who refused to back both public health insurance option amendments. That probably won't go over well in Arkansas, where a strong majority of voters support "creating a government-administered health insurance option that anyone can purchase to compete with private insurance plans."
Corporate money could get Lincoln re-elected, but if the economy continues to be weak and the Democratic base is uninspired to lift a finger to help her, she could have a very tough road. MoveOn is already running ads against Lincoln.
I don't normally post here about campaigns and elections, but I thought the La Vida Locavore community would want to know that there's a very real chance the Senate Agriculture Committee will be choosing a new chair (Debbie Stabenow?) in early 2011.
Today the Senate Ag Committee met to confirm three nominees to the USDA: Kathleen Merrigan (Deputy USDA Secretary), Jim Miller (Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services), and Joe Leonard (Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Civil Rights). All three will be confirmed, there is little doubt about that, but the highlight of the hearing for me was when Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) took Merrigan to task for her love of organic agriculture. Just one more reason we need to toss his ass out of the Senate in 2014.
Well, it took a little longer in the Senate than in the House, but the Dems came out with their Ag Committee roster:
1. Tom Harkin, of Iowa, Chairman
2. Patrick J. Leahy, of Vermont
3. Kent Conrad, of North Dakota
4. Max Baucus, of Montana
5. Blanche L. Lincoln, of Arkansas
6. Debbie Stabenow, of Michigan
7. E. Benjamin Nelson, of Nebraska
8. Sherrod Brown, of Ohio
9. Robert P. Casey, Jr., of Pennsylvania
10. Amy Klobuchar, of Minnesota
11. Kirsten Gillibrand, of New York
12. Michael Bennet, of Colorado
The Republicans are:
1. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) Ranking Member
2. Richard G. Lugar, Indiana
3. Thad Cochran, Mississippi
4. Mitch McConnell, Kentucky
5. Pat Roberts, Kansas
6. Mike Johanns, Nebraska
7. Charles Grassley, Iowa
8. John Thune, South Dakota
9. Vacant seat (What - are they still hoping Norm Coleman wins his race?)
Today, the Senate Ag Committee held the confirmation hearing for Tom Vilsack. I would expect that the process involves the Ag Committee questioning Vilsack and then voting on him, followed by a vote by the full Senate. Typically, the committee's vote to send the nominee to the full Senate for a vote is accompanied by a recommendation to the Senate to confirm that person. (An exception was in the case of John Bolton, in which the committee voted to let the full Senate vote but did NOT recommend that they confirm him.) Vilsack should have absolutely no problems. I've heard that the questions asked at the hearing weren't exactly tough and probing...
UPDATE: If you missed the Vilsack hearing, the recorded webcast is now available online (thanks to Aliza Wasserman for giving me the link!). Political junkies and foodies, enjoy!!
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