The jump in gasoline prices may only be rivaled as a political issue this election year by the increase in food prices.

Not everyone has a car, but everyone does have to eat.  And the price of putting food on the table has gone up, with experts saying those prices for basic commodities could keep rising for at least two more years.

Tied into this is the use of corn for ethanol, as some charge that has caused food prices to go up even more because of the competition for that product.

Today, Congress holds hearings on the issue in what is certain to become a "staple" of Democrat attacks on John McCain and Republicans in general this election year.

"Gas goes up.  Food goes up.  Everything goes up," said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) who will chair today's hearings of the Joint Economic Committee.

Schumer will bring in as a witness a baker from Manhattan, while lawmakers will also hear from a US Department of Agriculture economist and the head of the National Farmers Union.

One thing the jump in food prices has caused is a shift inside a massive farm bill that's currently working its way through the Congress.

More money has been set aside for nutrition programs (food for the poor) than in the past, as resources have been pulled out of government payments to farmers, now that farmers are enjoying higher commodity prices.

President Bush is still threatening to veto the farm bill, not because of the extra nutrition money, but because he says it doesn't do enough to reform a system that routinely sends big checks to big farmers.

Oddly enough, this may be the first real chance in the Congress to cut those farm support payments.

While Welfare Reform made it through the Congress and into law during the Clinton Administration, farmers have been able to hold on to what many say is their share of government farm welfare, despite repeated attempts in Congress to reduce crop supports.

We'll see if the rising price of food allows lamwakers to chop away at those subsidies.