Obama Focuses on Rural Policy

Democratic presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill., and his wife Michelle embrace after she introduced him at a campaign event at the fairgrounds Thursday, Aug. 16, 2007 in Atlantic, Iowa. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green) (M. Spencer Green - AP)

TAMA, Iowa -- Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama on Friday cast Washington's treatment of the nation's rural areas as a case of big business interests prevailing over the little farmer.

At a campaign event dubbed a rural summit, Obama complained that the country has handed out $1.3 billion in federal farm payments to people who aren't even farmers, with far too much money going to Fortune 500 companies that are "more than profitable enough not to take taxpayer money."

"I believe it's time to turn the page on a politics that has turned its back on rural America," Obama said at a high school in central Iowa. "While you're working hard to strengthen your farms, your families, and your communities, small businesses or main streets, our government has been working for big agribusiness."

Obama called for changes in the 2007 Farm Bill, and said he'll support lowering subsidy payments and reducing the number of multimillionaires eligible for those subsidies.

"That's why I believe we should lower the payment limit to $250,000 annually and make sure those payments go to farmers who need them _ not to millionaires who rely on the American taxpayers to protect their multimillion-dollar profits," he said.

The Illinois senator called the summit to gather policy ideas and comments from experts on rural issues. The event, titled "Real Change for Rural America," focused on rural economic development, quality of life, energy and agriculture.

Obama said he has long worked to support rural America during his time in the Illinois Legislature and the U.S. Senate.

The event included sessions on a variety of topics, in which experts and others from rural areas talked about such matters as farm prices, sustainable agriculture and how immigration policy affects agriculture. Those who attended gave special emphasis to issues including caps on subsidies, environmental concerns and how to encourage beginning farmers.

___

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) _ While a Tennessee senator, Fred Thompson kept two form letters to respond to people writing in about abortion _ one labeled "pro abortion" and the other "con abortion."

The nearly identical letters, which The Associated Press found in Thompson's papers at the University of Tennessee, were dated 1995. Both called abortion "a subject on which many people have strong and deeply held personal convictions" and said that the Republican senator generally believed "government should not interfere with individual convictions and actions in this area."

In an AP interview Friday, Thompson _ expected to announce his candidacy for president next month _ called himself "unabashedly pro-life."