Well, he's got balls.

I know he still believes in "global warming", but this I like*...

DES MOINES - Republican presidential hopeful John McCain stopped by the Iowa State Fair on Friday, repeating his opposition to ethanol subsidies and vowing to open markets around the world to Midwest commodities.

Excellent.

He said expanding exports could expand profits for farmers in the nation's top hog-producing state.

Of the $150 in profit from each hog produced, $30 comes from exports, McCain said.

''If we approve a free trade agreement between the United States and South Korea, that will be 10 more dollars,'' McCain said. ''Agriculture products here in the state of Iowa can feed the world and we're not afraid to compete with anybody.''

Ha. Iowa Dems are totally afraid of free markets. Reaction was predictable:

''He voted against ethanol subsidies, he's opposed to the farm bill,'' said Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Scott Brennan. ''What it proves is he doesn't care about what's important to Iowa.''

Translation: "McCain wants to take away the free gubbament money from the rich guys who vote for me! Waaah!"

There's a zip-code search at www.ewg.org where you can look up exactly who is getting federal money. The guys I went to high school with are doing quite well for themselves before they sell a single bushel (these are the families who "couldn't" pay my dad and collected free lunch while driving brand-new Camaros registered as "farm vehicles" to school). *gah* Also interesting--you can sign up husbands, wives, and the family collective as three different subsidy-collecting entities for the same farm. How 'bout that. I have no idea how my grandparents and uncles didn't figure out how to work the system so there would still be a family farm on which I could grow hops.

Maybe someone else can explain the people collecting farm subsidies in downtown Milwaukee (some of them seem to be estates, trusts, and investment groups, but not all) and how the benefits of granting a $6 subsidy to a farm outweigh the cost of processing and approving the application. I'm just not smart enough to figure that last one out.

P.S. I want to see Barry O in that hog pavilion, scratching the ears of Freight Train, the biggest boar EVAH, depending on how you spell it. PLEASE, Obamamessiah, grant my wish.

* Everytime he says something that makes me feel a little bit better about having to vote for him, the next day he says something that could have come straight out of the mouth of Dick Durbin or Charlie Rangel. Sigh.