Friday, August 12, 2011

Bachmann Doesn't Practice the Austerity She Preaches, Asked for Federal Funds 16 Times

Michele Bachmann doesn't exactly practice what she preaches when it comes to an alleged loathing of what she termed an "orgy" of federal spending.

HuffPo looked into her congressional recordand found that unsurprisingly, when it came to her district, Bachmann was quite happy to enjoy the benefits of President Obama's stimulus plan.

A Freedom of Information Act request filed by The Huffington Post with three separate federal agencies reveals that on at least 16 separate occasions, Bachmann petitioned the federal government for direct financial help or aid. A large chunk of those requests were for funds set aside through President Obama's stimulus program, which Bachmann once labeled "fantasy economics." Bachmann made two more of those requests to the Environmental Protection Agency, an institution that she has suggested she would eliminate if she were in the White House.

Taken as a whole, the letters underscore what Bachmann's critics describe as a glaring distance between her campaign oratory and her actual conduct as a lawmaker. Combined with previous revelations that Bachmann personally relied on a federally subsidized home loan while her husband's business benefited from Medicaid payments,it appears that one of the Tea Party's most cherished members has demonstrated that the government does, in fact, play a constructive role -- at least in her life and district.

Of course this is hardly anomalous for a GOP politician: "austerity for your district, bounty for mine," might as well be a motto.

Still, it underscores the point that Jon Stewart made last night when he argued that instead of showing Michele Bachmann with wild, glazed-over eyes on their cover, Newsweek should have just undermined the politician by using her own words against her.

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