By Karl Bremer
Michele Bachmann’s family farm in Independence , WI , continued to milk federal crop subsidies in 2007. The most recent information available from the Environmental Working Group shows that Paul Bachmann, Michele’s father-in-law, collected another $5,508 in direct payments for corn and soybeans in 2007. That’s in addition to the $251,973 in federal subsidies the Bachmann farm has harvested from 1995-2006.
Bachmann, who makes $169,300 a year as a member of Congress but does not farm herself, nonetheless profits from the Bachmann family farm. Her 2007 Personal Financial Disclosure statement shows an investment in the farm of between $100,001 and $250,000 and farm income of between $2,501 and $5,000.
“By any measure, 2007 was a banner year for farmers of grain, soybeans and cotton, as high prices for their crops earned them record net income, even after they paid skyrocketing costs for fuel, fertilizer and seed,” the EWG reports. “But under formulas set by Congress in the 2002 farm law, taxpayers topped off the record farm earnings of 2007 with another $5 billion in ‘direct payment’ crop subsidies.”
According to the EWG, “Direct payment subsidies are provided without regard to the economic need of the recipients or the financial condition of the farm economy.”
That's clearly the case with the Bachmann family farm. |
|