I'M ONLY DOING IT FOR HIM
Quick question for you. When does a government program turn into a campaign prop? About two weeks before an election, it turns out, no matter which party holds the checkbook. Take the white pill with me this morning. Both parties are in this one, and so is your tax money.
“I’m only doing it for him”
On Monday night in Park City, Kan., President Trump rallied for Sen. Roger Marshall, who’s trying not to become the first Kansas Republican to lose a Senate race in 94 years. Trump brought gifts.
First, ethanol. Year-round E15 gasoline is a big deal to Midwest corn growers, and Trump made it conditional, per Roll Call: “With Roger Marshall in the Senate, we will make year-round E15 permanent. But if Adam Hamilton is in, I’m not doing it. That’s it. I’m only doing it for him.“
Second, cash. Trump announced a new USDA Harvest Fuel Relief program, “providing our farmers with $8 billion in support to offset diesel costs during this harvest season,” CBS News reports. “When Republicans win, we will pass even more funding for our farmers. We love our farmers.”
The Wichita Eagle caught the rest. Trump called it “some more goodies,” and then said the quiet part: “You know, I always heard that when you’re president, you have a little bit of an advantage. And I sort of see why now, actually.”
I’M ONLY DOING IT FOR HIM is the most honest farm policy statement of the year. That’s the problem.
The pain is real
None of this means farmers aren’t hurting. Diesel averaged $6.32 a gallon, up from $3.62 a year ago, per AAA data cited by CBS. The USDA projects net farm income will fall 2.6% this year, with fuel and oil costs up nearly 30%. Kansas Farm Bureau president Glenn Brunkow told the Associated Press: “It seems like it’s coming at us from all directions.”
A farmer harvests wheat in Brownsburg, Ind., in 2021. Harvest season is when diesel costs hit hardest. Credit: USDA NRCS photo by Carly Whitmore, public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
But look at where the pain comes from. Pro Farmer says diesel hit records partly because of the Iran war. CBS quotes Gbenga Ajilore of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: the president “imposes policies that harm farmers, then spends taxpayer money to offset the damage his policies create.” This comes after a $12 billion farm aid package last December. And the timing? The Eagle reports payment rates won’t be released until November, and neither Trump nor USDA said when the money will actually arrive. The announcement lands before Election Day. The check, maybe not.
The red costume: “a little bit of an advantage”
Remember 2022? Republicans had a name for pre-election relief. Former Trump Education Secretary Betsy DeVos called Biden’s student loan plan a “political vote buy,” per Fox Business. Kansas was one of the Republican-led states that sued to stop it, ABC News reported.
Now the same party cheers a president who ties a fuel policy to one senator’s reelection and hands out “goodies” from a rally stage. The Eagle counts the rest of the fall lineup: one-time $500 Obamacare “refund” checks, a $90 payment to more than 20 million Medicare Part B seniors, and the $5,000 “Trump Dividend” we covered in THE CHECK NEEDS A MAJORITY. If it was vote buying in 2022, a conditional ethanol deal in 2026 isn’t a farm policy. It’s a price tag.
Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. Trump at his rally: "Roger Marshall is the leader who fought for that to happen." Credit: U.S. Senate Photographic Studio, public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
Follow the ethanol money while you’re at it. Our Roger Marshall Money Trail lists $10,000 from POET PAC and $10,000 from Growth Energy PAC this cycle, two big names in ethanol, among his political committee donors. Legal, ordinary and worth knowing.
The blue costume: “a fresh start”
Democrats, before you clutch your pearls: you ran this play too. On Oct. 18, 2022, exactly three weeks before that year’s midterms, Biden’s USDA announced that distressed farm loan borrowers had already received nearly $800 million, with up to $500 million more on the way. Secretary Tom Vilsack said it “provides a fresh start.”
The day before, the student loan relief application went live. On Oct. 21, 2022, Biden took a victory lap at Delaware State University, “just 18 days before a midterm election,” ABC noted, and called Republican criticism “hypocritical.” To be fair, the farm money was passed by Congress in the Inflation Reduction Act. The loan plan was not, and the Supreme Court struck it down in June 2023.
President Joe Biden's official portrait. In October 2022, his administration rolled out farm debt relief and student loan applications weeks before the midterms. Credit: Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz, public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
And this year? Kansas Democrat Adam Hamilton has his own goody. The Eagle reports he wants to suspend the federal gas tax, about 18.4 cents a gallon, and the diesel tax, about 24.4 cents, until the Iran conflict ends, which would likely cost billions in highway and transit money. A tax holiday that ends conveniently after you’re elected is still a campaign prop. It just comes with a smaller bow.
The white pill
Former Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., told the AP, “This is way beyond politics.” He’s right about the bills farmers are paying. He’s wrong about Washington. Both parties keep treating the federal checkbook like a campaign fund every October, and both call it vote buying only when the other side signs the checks. We’ve been tracking how diesel got this expensive since SANCTIONS BY THE TON.
Both costumes
The boring standard: aid should be set by need, on a schedule that doesn’t track the election calendar. No president should make a fuel policy depend on whether his candidate wins. And if it was vote buying when the other party did it, it’s vote buying when yours does.
Kansas voters can see who funds their delegation on our Kansas Money Map. Everyone else, find your race on the Money Map and electoral map.
Receipts
- Roll Call, Oct. 20, 2026. “I’m only doing it for him”; E15 background; Marshall race; Kansas diesel prices.
- CBS News, Oct. 20, 2026. $8 billion Harvest Fuel Relief; “We love our farmers”; AAA diesel prices; USDA forecasts; $12 billion December package; Ajilore quote.
- Wichita Eagle, Oct. 19, 2026. “Some more goodies”; “a little bit of an advantage”; payment timing; $500 and $90 payments; Hamilton’s tax holiday.
- Associated Press via HuffPost, Oct. 20, 2026. Brunkow and Tester quotes; 94 years.
- Pro Farmer, Oct. 20, 2026. Program funding; Iran war and diesel records.
- USDA Farm Service Agency, Oct. 18, 2022. Nearly $800 million paid; up to $500 million more; Vilsack quote.
- ABC News, Oct. 21, 2022. Student loan application launch; Delaware State speech; Kansas among suing states.
- Fox Business, Oct. 11, 2022. DeVos “political vote buy.”
- Supreme Court, Biden v. Nebraska, June 30, 2023. Loan plan struck down.
- Earlier Hypocrisy Democracy: THE CHECK NEEDS A MAJORITY; SANCTIONS BY THE TON. Reader tools: Roger Marshall Money Trail; Kansas Money Map; Money Map and electoral map.
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Originally published on Substack.
