Editing Jesse Helms (section)

===Economic policies===
Helms supported the [[gold standard]] through his role as the Agriculture Committee chairman, which exercises wide powers over commodity markets.<ref name="Republican support for a new gold standard" /> During the budget crisis of 1981, he restored $200 million for school lunches by instead cutting foreign aid,<ref>{{cite news |first=Martin |last=Tolchin |title=$200 Million to Pay for School Lunches Restored by Senate |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 28, 1981 |page=1 }}</ref> and against increases in grain and milk price support,<ref>{{cite news |first=Seth S. |last=King |title=Senate Panel, Rebuffing Reagan, Approves Costlier Grain Support Plan |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/01/us/senate-panel-rebuffing-reagan-approves-costlier-grain-support-plan.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 1, 1981 |page=18 |access-date=July 9, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Seth S. |last=King |title=Milk Output Rises Despite a Price Support Freeze |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 27, 1981 |page=B19 }}</ref> despite the importance of the dairy industry to North Carolina. He warned repeatedly against costly farm subsidies as chairman.<ref>{{cite news |title=Senate Farm Panel Votes More Subsidies |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=May 1, 1981 }}</ref> However, in 1983, he used his position to lobby to use the country's strategic dairy and wheat stocks to subsidize food exports as part of a [[trade war]] with the [[European Union]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Nicholas |last=Ashford |title=Senators to step up trade war |work=[[Financial Times]] |page=33 |date=February 18, 1983 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Nicholas |last=Ashford |title=Senators to step up trade war |work=[[The Times]] |page=7 |date=April 25, 1983 }}</ref> Helms heavily opposed cutting food aid to Poland after [[Martial law in Poland|martial law was declared]],<ref>{{cite news |first=Hedrick |last=Smith |author-link=Hedrick Smith |title=Further U.S. Help Is in Abeyance Until Polish Situation is Clarified |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/15/world/further-us-help-is-an-abeyance-until-polish-situation-is-clarified.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 15, 1981 |page=1 |access-date=July 9, 2009}}</ref> and called for the end of grain exports to (and arms limitation talks with) the Soviet Union instead.<ref>{{cite news |first=Hedrick |last=Smith |author-link=Hedrick Smith |title=Reagan's Sanctions |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 25, 1981 |page=3 }}</ref>

In 1982, Helms authored a bill to introduce a federal [[flat tax]] of 10% with a [[personal allowance]] of $2,000.<ref>{{cite news |first=William |last=Safire |author-link=William Safire |title=The Flat Tax |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 30, 1982 |page=31 }}</ref> He voted against the 1983 budget, the only conservative senator to have done so,<ref>{{cite news |first=Martin |last=Tolchin |title=54–45 Senate Vote Passes the Budget |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 24, 1982 |page=1 }}</ref> and was a leading voice for a [[balanced budget amendment]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Amendment Drive Now in high Gear |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 13, 1982 |page=17 }}</ref> With [[Charlie Rose (congressman)|Charlie Rose]], he proposed a bill that would limit tobacco price supports, but would allow the transfer of subsidy credits from non-farmers to farmers.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tobacco Allotment Program Under Fire in Congress |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=June 15, 1982 }}</ref> He co-sponsored the bi-partisan move in 1982 to extend drug patent duration.<ref>{{cite news |title=Patent Bill Splits the Drug Industry |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 15, 1982 |page=NJ4 }}</ref> Helms continued to pose obstacles to Reagan's budget plans. At the end of the [[97th United States Congress|97th Congress]], Helms led a filibuster against Reagan's increase of the federal [[gasoline tax]] by 5-cents per gallon:<ref name="From Reagan Ally">{{cite news |title=Helms: From Reagan Ally to Foe in One Filibuster |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 23, 1982 |page=1 }}</ref> mirroring his opposition to [[Governor of North Carolina|Governor]] [[Jim Hunt]]'s 3-cent increase in the North Carolina gasoline tax, but alienating the White House from Helms.<ref name="From Reagan Ally" />