To gain the support of big-city Democrats, the bill also includes increases in food stamp spending and emergency food aid.

The connection between higher food costs and the bill's price supports, protectionism and handouts was obviously lost on the majority of our Washington representatives, who crave buying votes over enacting rational policy initiatives.

Members of Congress couldn't even bring themselves to seriously limit direct cash payments to millionaire farmers. Defenders of the measure say it would cap federal payments to individuals with more than $750,000 in annual farm income. But loopholes allow married farmers who make more than $1.5 million to still cash in.

Citizens Against Government Waste, a beltway fiscal watchdog group, notes that the legislation "continues to dole out $5.2 billion annually in direct payments to individuals (many of whom are no longer farming) without regard to prices or income."

Kudos to Nevada Republican Rep. Dean Heller, who cast a "no" vote. Unfortunately, he was alone among the state's delegation. Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley and Republican Rep. Jon Porter both signed off on the legislation.

Rep. Berkley, who holds a safe seat representing urban Las Vegas, deserves some heat for lining up with the agricultural welfare queens. But Rep. Porter merits even more fire, as he has apparently decided that to win re-election in November he must jettison his party's principles and reinvent himself as a moderate Democrat.

That could be a fatal miscalculation. If he fails to survive this fall, he might look back with regret on having turned his back on his district's fiscally conservative Republicans by embracing boondoggles such as a massive expansion of a new federal health insurance entitlement for middle-class kids and the farm bill.

President Bush should follow through on his veto threat, even though the farm bill passed with more than enough votes to override. Make the congressional piggies push that green button once again.