Wisconsin Republicans Took Hundreds of Thousands in Govt Farm Subsidies

[Havakasha]

How do you spell H Y P O C R I T E S?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-ne...ting/sam-stein

Wisconsin State Senate Republicans Took Hundreds Of Thousands In Government Farm Subsidies
March 8, 2011


WASHINGTON -- At least three of the Wisconsin state Senate Republicans currently demanding that public workers sacrifice benefits, wages and even collective bargaining rights for the sake of the budget have applied for and received hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal farm subsidies, a Huffington Post review of state and federal records shows.

From 1995 through 2009, state Sens. Luther Olsen, Dale Schultz and Sheila Harsdorf all had stakes in farms that received between them more than $300,000 in taxpayer funds.

Those federal appropriations had no direct impact on the state’s current budget woes, but the cash spent on those subsidies, which went to support a range of functions -- from soybean production to small hog operations -- could have been used elsewhere, perhaps even in Wisconsin. More than that, critics say, it muddles the notion, pushed by these lawmakers and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), that only they are serious about reining in an overextended, overspent government.

“Members of both parties ... preach fiscal austerity all the time, but then when it comes to farm subsides going to farmers in their districts, they think the spigot should remain wide open,” said Don Carr, a spokesman and policy adviser for the Environmental Working Group, which tracks and critiques federal farm subsidies.

As Carr acknowledged, there is more than a little irony in the use of government largess by the same senators now demanding that public workers tighten their belts.

Farm subsidies have long been criticized by conservatives and progressives alike as a clear waste of taxpayer money, but supporters of federal farm policy and less partial observers caution that for small farms, taxpayer help is key to survival. In the case of the Wisconsin state legislators, the farms in question seem to be primarily family operations.


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[SiriuslyLong]

Thanks for the article on wasteful federal spending, though I would argue who is more wrong - the government that gives the money away, or the people who take it. I'm sure that regardless of your political affiliation, if a sign were placed, "free money", all would stand in line. Like I've said in the past, our federal government is the biggest mark on the Earth - money for the taking.

[Havakasha]

If a politician rails about govt money and govt spending at least have the decency not to say one thing in public and do another in private. Its clearly hypocritical.

[SiriuslyLong]

That's overly simple thought from a republican hater.