Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Professors rush in

Where sensible people fear to tread. Thanks to Karl, Ken, and Eva at Dump Michele Bachmann for this one.

Alternate title: My Congresswoman the farmer

Yesterday, Professor Empty Holster posted an open entreaty to his Congresswoman, Michele Bachmann, to do something in the farm bill about FINOs: farmers in name only, who receive subsidy payments from the federal government:

If you live in the Twin Cities, look around you. One of your neighbors might be getting money from agricultural subsidies. Over a billion dollars in an eighteen month period. While there have been repeated attempts to limit farm subsidy payments to only those who are actively participating in farming, the article claims some are getting checks merely for participating in a conference call once a year.

There's a new farm bill working its way through Congress right now, and fixing this problem is not on the agenda. If someone would like to wear the mantle of fiscal conservative -- let's say you, Rep. Bachmann -- how about a proposal to stop this silliness?

There is only one teensy weensy problem. Michele Bachmann is a FINO:

King, I took your advice and looked around and guess who I found collecting fat farm subsidies? My neighbor Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. Bachmann, who earns $165,200 as a congressperson, and whose husband is a clinical psychologist, owns up to a quarter-million-dollar interest in the Bachmann Farm Family Limited Partnership in Independence, WI. Paul Bachmann, a family member who runs the Bachmann farm, has collected $232,445 in federal farm subsidies for the Bachmann family farm between 1995-2005. And Michele reported between $2,501-$5,000 in income from the family farm in 2006, so clearly she's got her nose in the subsidy trough.

You're absolutely right, King. How about a proposal from Michele Bachmann to "stop this silliness?" I eagerly await your next interview with Michele when you can ask her about these subsidies and what she's going to do to stop this "socialized farming." I can't wait until your buddy, failed congressional candidate Jason Lewis, asks her about it too, because he was railing about all those libruls and their support for farm subsidies on the radio yesterday.

Anybody who wants to look up the history of Bachmann farm subsidies can find it at the Environmental Working Group's Farm Subsidy database at http://farm.ewg.org/farm/

Karl

Spot's got a box of kibble for the first person to produce a picture of Michele Bachmann in muck boots and coveralls.

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