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Bush Picks Ex-Governor to Head the Farm Team
Schafer could overhaul way Agricultural Department does business
By Wesley Oliver
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Posted Oct 31, 07 9:25 PM CDT
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(Newser)
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Edward Schafer has extolled the virtues of smaller government, but he is President Bush’s nominee to head the mammoth Agriculture Department, which employs more than 100,000 people and spends $90 billion a year. If approved by the Senate, the former North Dakota governor would likely be thrust into tense negotiations over a new farm bill, the New York Times reports.
Congress supports the legislation, but Bush hopes to trim the $288 billion that the bill would dole out to farm programs over the next five years. While governor, Schafer said, “Smaller government is every bit as visionary as adding a whole bunch of new programs.” Schafer is the grandson of Danish immigrant farmers, and he gained extensive agricultural experience in farm-heavy North Dakota.