Farm subsidies become an issue in race for Doolittle seat

Timed to the arrival of a farm bill before Congress this week, U.S. House candidate Tom McClintock is out with a new radio advertisement slamming Republican primary opponent Doug Ose, a land developer and former Congressman, on the issue of farm subsidies.

“While millionaire Ose was in office corporate welfare programs wasted billions, all at the expense of taxpayers and family farmers,” an announcer says in the ad. “And Doug Ose – his partnership received over $642,000 in farm subsidies, even while he was on the agriculture committee charged with overseeing the program.”

Stan Devereux, a spokesman for the McClintock campaign, would not disclose the amount of money the campaign was investing in the 1-minute spot but said it was “significant.” He also said the ad was running throughout the Roseville-area district.

Doug Elmets, a spokesman for Ose, called the charges “baseless,” and accused McClintock, a state Senator, of hypocrisy.

“Doug Ose tried to change the subsidy law in 2003 for people who were sitting on property and not producing. He is still eligible today for taking the subsidy but does not because when he stopped payment. The bottom line is that Doug Ose wanted to change a law and no longer accepts something he is eligible for, but McClintock continues to abuse the system for his personal financial gain,” said Elmets, alluding to McClintock’s taking of per diem payments.

With the farm bill making headlines this week, the conservative Club for Growth, an independent organization backing McClintock, issued a press release Tuesday taking aim at Ose.

“After taking hundreds and thousands of taxpayer dollars for himself, Doug Ose has the audacity to ask voters in California’s Forth Congressional District to send him back to Congress so he can vote for more wasteful programs and projects,” said David Keating, the organization’s executive director. “Ose’s support for the 2002 Farm Bill and his past and current support for wasteful pork projects demonstrate that he cannot be counted on to fight for taxpayers.”

McClintock and Ose are competing for the seat of retiring Rep. John Doolittle.