Mary Clare Jalonick's account tonight jives with Chuck Abbott's:

House and Senate negotiators late Tuesday scrambled to meet President Bush's demands on a multibillion-dollar farm bill, considering cutting subsidies for wealthy farmers.

Earlier in the day, Bush had renewed his call to reduce such subsidies, saying the "massive, bloated" bill would do little to stem rising food costs. Negotiators met with Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer soon afterward.

That meeting was "sobering," said Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D. He said the Bush administration had a laundry list of demands for the legislation, which lawmakers were hurrying to finish before current farm law expires Friday. The law has been extended several times, and lawmakers have said another one-week extension may be necessary.

She focused on the issue of AGI, citing President Bush's Tuesday morning press conference:

"The bill Congress is now considering would fail to eliminate subsidy payments to multimillionaire farmers," [President] Bush said. "America's farm economy is thriving. The value of farmland is skyrocketing. And this is the right time to reform our nation's farm policies by reducing unnecessary subsidies."

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., said last week that lawmakers were considering an eventual limit on payments to high-earning "nonfarmers," people who make only a small portion of their income from farming. But that wouldn't impose any income limits on wealthy farmers, Peterson said then.

Conrad said Tuesday that the bill now would have "substantial reform" for farmers and nonfarmers.