Michele Bachmann: Another Ayn Rand-Worshipping Welfare Queen

A couple weeks back, I brought you the tale of the farmer who railed against "parasites" suckling on the public teat while pulling in millions in government subsidies.

Apparently, Tea Party darlin' Michele Bachmann (R-Wingnuttia) shares that awesome hypocrisy.

Although she repeatedly decries “Big Government,” Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has found a way to get three sources of income from the very government she despises.

First, there’s a  paycheck from her job as Congressional representative in Minnesota’s 6 ^th district – remember, she  hatesbig government but  chooses to be a part of it.

Second, she collects  over $200k in farm subsidies for her family’s agriculture operation – again, please remember how much she  hates the way government takes care of people (she’s a big proponent of “repealing” the health care bill).

Third, in yet  another family business – Bachmann and Associates, Inc., a Christian counseling service – Bachmann has claimed nearly another $30k in “big government” payouts. And never mind that annoying separation of church-and-state detail; that doesn’t apply to the Bachmanns. The representative’s husband, Dr. Marcus Bachmann, has announced publicly on several occasions that the counseling facility is strongly Christian-centered and that “Jesus Christ is the Almighty Counselor.” Counselors employed by the facility are also members of the clergy.

Let me wrap up with my go-to Dean Baker quote on this:

That's the stereotype -- that conservatives are willing to take the hard knocks when they come -- but... what the conservatives have done is they've rigged the deck. They've made sure that certain people come out ahead, that income flows upward, and that other people are put at a disadvantage -- and these things are built into the rules of the system. And then what they want to do -- in talking about "free markets" -- is they want to kick back and say, "No, no, no; those are the rules, and we  can't talk about them." They don't want to talk about how the deck is rigged; they want us to fight over the small scraps.