A bi-partisan group of Senators sent a letter to President Obama on Tuesday criticizing the Administration’s loose interpretation of “active personal management” in the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) final rule on farm program payment limitations, released on January 7, 2010.

Senators Tim Johnson(D-SD), Mike Enzi (R-WY), Russ Feingold (D-WI) and John Barrasso (R-WY) expressed their concern that despite a 2004 General Accounting Office (GAO) study that documented misuse of the program as a result of lax standards, and mentioned the fact that almost 75 percent of the comments USDA received on the interim rule called for tightening the rule, the Administration has still failed “to bolster the flawed and long-standing definition of ‘active personal management'”.

Sen. Johnson said, “I hope that the Administration realizes the broad consensus that exists about the value of bolstering and targeting farm payment limits. At the end of the day, this is about spending our money wisely.”   Here’s the link to previous blog on the subject.