"There's been many a slip between the cup and the lips.*" Billy Long, KY3 NEWS

Steve Grant profiled Billy Long on last night's broadcast of KY3 News.

Long's statements to Grant on the issues of healthcare, agricultural subsidies and Social Security are different from the reponses Long has been saying to others during the campaign.

Consider Long's comment on farm subsidies. Long told the CAGW, in response to their survey (one of the 'jillions' Long received, one of the few he answered - sorry MRTA, apparently Long didn't think your's was important enough or carried enough dollars to answer) that he supports the "the elimination or reduction of obsolete agricultural subsidies."

Further, Long, or someone on his staff, wrote, in longhand, the following comment:

Our food supply is important and should be able to operate in a free market without the distortions of government's politically motivated subsidies.

Grant reported that Long as saying he is in favor of rewriting farm subsidies to help families not corporations.

Long said, "They're bringing milk in from out of the area. Our farmers here have to pay to have milk trucked in from other states. So there's a lot of things in the farm subsidies that have to be looked at."

Again with the "They" -- who is bringing milk in from out of the area? The milk producers? If demand is greater than local supply, why wouldn't 'they' bring in milk from out of the area? Does Billy want to take milk out of a baby's mouth?

"Our farmers here have to pay to have milk trucked in from other states." Who do the farmers make the check out to? Who do the farmers pay? The milk producers? The truckers? (see note below)

Or is this just another careless statement that one can expect from an auctioneer who is trying to run up bids on an item? Acceptable for an auctioneer? Perhaps. Acceptable from a candidate for the US House of Representatives? I think not.

(Dairy farmers in this area generally contract with Dairy Farmers of American (DFA). DFA will buy all the milk a farmer's cows produce. DFA then sells the milk to the processing plant. We all have seen those great big trucks with many axles hauling milk from the farm to the processing plant. Many a farmer has said a milk route is as good as money in the bank. this story is developing.)

*Billy's quoting Shakespeare or "The Young Guns"?