Michele ‘Mama Che’ Bachmann on welfare dole-really
Image by Getty Images via Daylife
Say it ain’t so.
Minnesota Congresswoman Michele “Mama Che” Bachmann, the queen of anti-socialism and Tea Party goddess, is on the government dole – and has been for years. And I’m not talking about her job as a congresswoman.
Bachmann’s family farm received $251,973 in federal subsidies between 1995 and 2006. The farm had been managed by Bachmann’s recently deceased father-in-law and took in roughly $20,000 in 2006 and $28,000 in 2005, with the bulk of the subsidies going to dairy and corn. Both dairy and corn are heavily subsidized — or “socialized” — businesses in America (in 2005 alone, Washington spent $4.8 billion propping up corn prices) and are subject to strict government price controls.
Via Truthdig
Talk about selective socialism. As Bachmann leads the fight to stop Americans from receiving government subsidies to purchase health insurance, she gladly pockets government subsidies paid her in the form of farm supports.
There’s nothing new about subsidies paid to America’s farmers. They serve a valuable role as, without the help of the federal government, many farms in America would soon be bankrupt creating some very severe problems. So, Bachmann’s receipt of subsidies for her family farm do not offend me in any way.
But how does this woman, who never misses an opportunity to stand before a rabble rousing crowd to condemn Obama for leading the nation down the path of socialism and leads prayer broadcasts asking God to smite the health care reform legislation, face herself in the mirror each day knowing she has benefitted so greatly from the very system she publicly condemns?
Good thing we don’t have more hypocrites like Bachmann.
Oh wait…it turns out we do.
Chuck Grassley, the longtime Republican senator from Iowa who warns his constituents of Obama’s “trend toward socialism,” has seen his family collect $1 million in federal handouts over an 11-year period, with Grassley’s son receiving $699,248 and the senator himself pocketing $238,974. Even Grassley’s grandson is learning to ride through life on training wheels, snagging $5,964 in 2005 and $2,363 in 2006. In the Grassley family they learn early how to enjoy other people’s money.
Via Truthdig
Even the ultra-conservative, free market think tank, The Heritage Foundation, has criticized Grassley on his connections to the farming industry and his refusal to be transparent about them.
Here’s my favorite. Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), and his family, have enjoyed farm subsidy payments totaling approximately $500,000 over the past eleven years. This is the man who has built his sizable political career on his strong belief in God, the free market and a two year limit on all welfare benefits. Brownback was also a ringleader of that notorious ‘prayercast’ asking God to bring down those senators who would vote for health care reform.
Still, it’s a good thing that these political leaders are benefitting from our socialized system of farming as they might not be able to get by on what they’ve got. Senator Brownback’s net worth is somewhere between $3,108,065 to $9,229,001 while Grassley’s net worth is placed between $2,141,058 to $5,266,999. Bachmann pulls up the rear with her official filing revealing a net worth between $$-453,985 to $1,289,998, however most sources place her actual net worth at somewhere around one million dollars.
So, to recap, subsidies good for millionaires – not so much for Americans struggling to access health care.
It doesn’t happen often, foks, but I just don’t know what to say.
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shhh…the GOPers don’t want this kind of info spread around!
(and now Bachmann is curiously quiet on her anti-census crusade.)
The biggest problem with this issue is that it’s the ultimate circular firing squad. Chances are that just about everyone who would run for office against a Bachmann or a Grassley or a Brownback is also complicit in the farm subsidies, or at least has to cultivate the federal teat-suckling farmers in those states for votes. Those guys will all happily vote for the Tea Party because they conveniently don’t make the connection between farm subsidies and the federal budget deficit.
So, it’s fun and all for Truthdig and others to play gotcha, but this is purely preaching to the choir kind of stuff – it’s hypocrisy that isn’t really bankable in any meaningful political fashion.
Maybe. But I never really made the connection or considered that these were people getting government subsidies. I don’t think it is such a bad thing for other people to contemplate the hypocrisy. I don’t mind the subsidies – I mind that these are people who are condemning other people’s subsidies while not turning down their own.
In response to another comment. See in context »So Rick, are you a pro-socialist…?
The health care bill is one big government subsidy….millions will recive free health care….while millions more will go to jail for refusing to buy obama’s brand of communist health care ?
Pseaking of subsidies…who lives for free in our white house? with free food, free medical, free pension, free travel….?
as usual, get your facts somewhere close to straight and I might actually answer your question.
In response to another comment. See in context »Rick, in your first paragraph you call out Bachmann for being the “queen of anti-socialism”
What does that mean?
In response to another comment. See in context »do you really need a definition of a simple statement?
In response to another comment. See in context »and, by the way, any thoughts on how we are going to find prisons (federal prisons no less) to house the “millions” of people who you say will be going to jail for not buying health insurance?
In response to another comment. See in context »We will build the prisons and hire more federal workers to man them…..obama said he would create jobs, there are your jobs
In response to another comment. See in context »what’s terrifying is that you actually believe this.
In response to another comment. See in context »Of course, we have hypocrites on both sides of the aisle. But you’re right to highlight that people (at least in farm states) see ag subsidies as different than helping the less fortunate.
BTW, there is a clear connection between farm subsidies and health care. If we stopped subsidizing industrial food-like substances, we could decrease the amount we spend on health care enough to cover everyone.
Interesting point.
In response to another comment. See in context »