Dan Morgan
Dan Morgan is a journalist, author and former foreign correspondent who has worked at the Washington Post for more than 30 years. His assignments have included six years in Germany and central Europe, during which he covered the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia and the 1970 Polish workers uprising that presaged the Solidarity movement and the breakup of the Soviet Union. In Washington, he pioneered his paper's coverage of trade and agriculture issues, leading to the publication of a best-selling book, Merchants of Grain, which was nominated for the American Book Award in 1980. Since then, he has covered a variety of economic and political stories, using Congress as a base. His series on technology competition between Japan and the United States won the Loeb Award. He won the Dirksen Award for a series entitled Power and the Purse, which detailed the operations of the congressional appropriations committees. Harvesting Cash, his recent 9-part series in 2006 with Gilbert Gaul and Sarah Cohen, outlined waste and abuse in the farm subsidy program.Honors:
1980 American Book Award for, "Merchants of Grain." Dirksen Award for, "Power and the Purse." 2007 Pulitzer Nomination, public service for, "Harvesting Cash."
News Articles
As Farm Bill Nears Vote, Bush Presses for Fewer SubsidiesMay 04, 2008President Bush's decision in 2002 to sign a farm bill loaded with billions of dollars of new agricultural subsidies triggered considerable criticism from GOP conservatives true to the party's anti-spending philosophy. Now, as Congress nears final agreement on a new five-year farm bill that will cost nearly $300 billion, the president has taken a harder line. Emboldened by soaring food prices and record farm profits, he has pressed Congress to cut farm subsidies sharply and has made clear that he will veto the popular bill if lawmakers do not meet his demands.
Emptying the BreadbasketApril 29, 2008At Stephen Fleishman's busy Bethesda shop, the era of the 95-cent bagel is coming to an end. Breaking the dollar barrier "scares me," said the Bronx-born owner of Bethesda Bagels. Fleishman and his customers are hardly alone. Across America, turmoil in the world wheat markets has sent prices of bread, pasta, noodles, pizza, pastry and bagels skittering upward, bringing protests from consumers.
Corn Farms Prosper, but Subsidies Still FlowSeptember 28, 2007Those annual automatic payments to Handsaker and thousands of other prospering corn growers have long been controversial. But coming at a time when taxpayers are already subsidizing the ethanol industry to the tune of $3 billion a year, the double-barreled support system for those who grow corn and those who turn it into fuel has begun to draw fire in Congress.
Farm Bill Leaves Some SubsidiesJuly 19, 2007Farm bloc lawmakers yesterday offered the U.S. fruit and vegetable industry $1.8 billion in new federal grants over the next five years as part of a farm bill that would leave in place far larger subsidies for grain, cotton and dairy producers.A Slow Demise in the DeltaJune 20, 2007From 2001 to 2005, the federal government spent nearly $1.2 billion in agricultural subsidies to boost farmers' incomes and invigorate local economies in this poverty-stricken region of the Mississippi Delta.Switching to Biofuels Could Cost a Lot of GreenJune 08, 2007As President Bush and congressional leaders rally support for their ambitious biofuel proposals, one ingredient is often left unstated: the cost. This article was cowritten with Steven MufsonPublications
The Farm Bill And BeyondJanuary 13, 2010This paper examines the 2008 farm bill, with a view to setting the stage for the next phase of the debate in the United States and Europe over climate, energy, farm subsidies, food safety, trade, and agricultural aid to farmers in developing countries.
Prodding the Liberal Agenda With a PitchforkAugust 02, 2009Climate change legislation was moving along in the House in June when it ran into a tractorcade. Dozens of farm-state lawmakers, led by the blunt-talking Minnesotan who chairs the House Agriculture Committee, blocked the way.
