Welfare For Me, Not For Thee: Joni Ernst Edition...

[Javaman]

http://www.readingisforsnobs.com/2015/01/welfare-for-me-not-for-thee-joni-ernst.html

The truth about her family’s farm roots and living within one’s means, however, is more complex. Relatives of Ernst (née: Culver), based in Red Oak, Iowa (population: 5,568) have received over $460,000 in farm subsidies between 1995 and 2009. Ernst’s father, Richard Culver, was given $14,705 in conservation payments and $23,690 in commodity subsidies by the federal government–with all but twelve dollars allocated for corn support. Richard’s brother, Dallas Culver, benefited from $367,141 in federal agricultural aid, with over $250,000 geared toward corn subsidies. And the brothers’ late grandfather Harold Culver received $57,479 from Washington—again, mostly corn subsidies—between 1995 and 2001. He passed away in January 2003.

more at link...

[liberal N proud]

1. Bread sacks for everyone else!

[underpants]

6. Wonder woman

[easychoice]

2. and she has the monumental gaul to stand up in public

and tell everyone how poor she is.
I was going to call the county agent today and find out what her subsidies are.You saved me the call.
What a phony scumbag.

[liberal N proud]

12. There is a web site that list all farmers subsidies

I can't find it now, but used it once when I was saw a sign deriding mothers on welfare in a farm field in Iowa. When I located the farm and the owner which took some time, I learned the land owner was making several hundred thousand each year.

Then I had to look at how much my poor cousin was making as well.


On edit, this might be it: http://farm.ewg.org/region.php?fips=19000

[madokie]

33. We have a lot of those here in my county

some of the names makes me shake my head in wonderment. Now i understand the horde of farm equipment some of these folks have. All brought to them by us the tax payers.

[liberal N proud]

36. I was shocked at what a cousin of mine made

A poor farmer in western Iowa just scratching the dirt to get buy, we grew up with stories of how they ate popcorn at night because it was so hard for them.

Turns out they were pulling in all this cash, driving nice cars and new implements every year.

[TheBlackAdder]

3. Forget that she became a Socialist when she joined the Military, working on the taxpayer's dime.

It was an easy job to get and hold.

She sure likes her pension, her benefits, and the guaranteed government job she had.


===


I wonder how many times she hits those TAXPAYER SUBSIDIZED and TAX FREE Commissaries?

I wonder how many times she enjoys those TAX FREE Exchanges?

[Paladin]

7. Excellent point. Thanks. (nt)

[2naSalit]

9. She sure sounds like a REAL taker...

and made a career of it to boot... er, or camo pumps or, er..

[niyad]

14. her military career:

Military career

Ernst is a lieutenant colonel in the logistics branch and currently commands the 185th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion at Camp Dodge, the largest battalion in the Iowa Army National Guard.[11][12] As of 2014, Ernst had served 21 years between the Army Reserve and the National Guard. She spent 14 months in Kuwait in 2003-2004 as a company commander during Operation Iraqi Freedom.[9][13][14]

. . .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joni_Ernst

[Skidmore]

35. Her husband was in the military too.

[ND-Dem]

38. She's been on the taxpayers' dime since she graduated from college, in one way or another.

And she funneled graft money to her father's construction compant as soon as she started working in government.

Oh, she's a gem, she is.

[Myrina]

4. ... and Paul Ryan and just about every other GOP Critter

really sick shallow, greedy fuckers, aren't they?

[Kali]

5. I am sorry,

but less than 40K in ag payments in Iowa of all places over 14 years is not much. (her father)

as much as a problem that corn policy is, the payments to growers "benefits" people and markets all down the chain. I don't think the criticism of those payments should be aimed at most farmers, as they are trapped in a fucked up system as much as anybody.

[2naSalit]

11. But most of them drive brand new P/U trucks...

while their kids wear breadbags on their feet?

She a poseur...

[ND-Dem]

39. You forgot to add in the value of the government contracts joni phoney sent his way.

[Bluenorthwest]

8. She's anti choice and anti gay, opposed to the Federal Minimum Wage, wishes to dismantle the EPA

and privatize Medicare. For what it's worth, she is also opposed to chemo patients having access to cannabis.

I get the feeling that many on DU are uncomfortable with attacking her on policy issues because some of her worst policy positions are shared by public figures they openly admire and defend from criticism for their anti gay and anti choice views.
I think she is shitty because her policies are shitty, included on the shit list are her anti gay and anti choice views. Those are shitty views.

[merrily]

21. +1

[madokie]

34. We agree,

She's a 'shitty' person

[ND-Dem]

41. Let me see if I understand you correctly. You're saying that "many at DU" don't want to attack

her on policy issues because her positions are the same as anti-gay and anti-choice politicians DUers admire?

So "many" DUers "admire" politicians who want to privatize Medicare, end the federal minimum wage, get rid of EPA and are also anti-gay and anti-choice.

Who are these politicians 'admired' by DUers, and where do they live, Bizarro-World? Please name these fascist politicians so 'admired' by 'many' DUers.

I'd say that's a steaming crock of s**t you're pushing (repeatedly, I might add).

Right, 'many' at DU hold the same positions as a near-fascist right wing/teaparty Republican politicians who wants to dismantle everything the Democratic party stands for.

[Blue Owl]

10. It's clear who the breadwinner was in that family

n/t

[lancer78]

13. My family was well off

but we used bread bags in our shoes during the winter to keep our feet dry. A lot of people do that in the northern plains no matter their socio-economic position.

[kentuck]

15. But the richest part..

...is that she had to use those bread bags when Reagan was the President. At least, she had some bread.

[niyad]

16. I just read her bio on wiki--phyllis schlafly jr., apparently.

[femmocrat]

17. She pulled herself up by her breadbags and....

exchanged them for cake boxes (as in "let them eat cake&quot !

[Skidmore]

18. If you go to the county assessors site there and search their database for

properties belonging to Culver, you will find that there is a good bit of acreage being held in her mother's name as well.

[SheilaT]

19. I have long noticed that those most opposed to welfare

for others are the farmers who get subsidy payments. They haven't a clue that it's welfare, pure and simple. Forty grand a year is a very healthy chunk of change. I live on less than that myself, as I'm sure do many others here.

It's hypocrisy, pure and simple, and they never get called out on it. I honestly, honestly do not understand why we have these subsidy payments. I've heard many times about how tough life is for farmers and how these are needed, but times are tough for many people, and they don't get this money.

[hunter]

22. It's because farming is unpredictable and the markets unstable.

The original intent was to keep farmers on their farms, stabilize markets, and give farmers an incentive to conserve their lands' productivity.

In the modern world employment in any field is unstable, lifetime careers are much rarer than they used to be. A better approach is not to deny farm subsidies, but to increase subsidies to any employees who are displaced by unstable markets.

[SheilaT]

23. Maybe. But I find it offensive and outrageous

that farmers accept all that government money, usually quite generous amounts, far above whatever someone on welfare gets, and thinks that "those people" who are on welfare are not only undeserving but are living very high on the hog.

[hunter]

24. So do I. It's like rural Republicans somehow "deserve" government subsidy...

... but other hard working people don't.

I'm certain racism plays a part for many of them.

Subsidies are okay for them, but not for some black or brown working person who's facing a "bad season" or depressed prices in a non-farm business.

[woo me with science]

20. And here comes the TPP!

What do we do about bipartisan corporate corruption of the system?

[Cha]

25. How can she be so hypocritical?! Oh wait.. she's republicon. Throwin the con at the SOTU

[CincyDem]

26. I'm no Joni fan, but...

She did a hell of a lot better with her National Guard service than Shrub - and look how far he got. Sounds like she showed up (it's probably hard to fudge 21 years of service not showing up) and she did it at a time when the National Guard presented some serious risks vis-a-vis deployment. And it sounds like she didn't have daddy to get her out of it. So in the grand scheme of things (bread bags and all) she's probably a decent person. Let's not get caught up in the ad hominem attacks that leave both sides looking like petty grade schoolers.

Her ideas are a total f'ing disaster for the country and represent the best of 1955 conservative thinking. We can make fun of her shoes, her teeth (where did she get that's whitening toothpaste) or her bread bags but that's all noise - we should be focused on the fact that she is now front and center as the face of the American Taliban that we affectionally call the Republican Party.

[azmom]

28. She is morally bankrupt

Her ideas tell me so. So, no. Not a decent person at all.

[CincyDem]

30. Thanks for clearing that up...

Obviously you've got a much closer relationship with her than I do. Almost sounds like a Palinism - "I can see your moral bankruptcy from our back porch". LOL

[azmom]

32. I know for a fact

That she sold her soul to the devil, oops , meant to say the Kochs.

[CincyDem]

37. That's fine...

...as long as she didn't sell those plastic bread bags. The Smithsonian will want them for their retrospective display featuring "one hit wonders". Joni will be right there next to The Knack (My Sharona), Toni Basil (Hey Mickey You're so Fine), and Sarah Palin (I read a lot of newspapers).

LOL

[HereSince1628]

27. Conservation Reserve Program is sort of like renting land to the government.

If the conservation payments in this story are for that, it should be thought of more as rent and rather less like welfare.

[LiberalAndProud]

29. Farm subsidies won't be on the chopping block ever. They are sacrosanct.

It can be argued that we all benefit from lower food prices because of these subsidies, but actually feeding the poorest among us ... not so much.

It's true, Joni's family took government handouts. Media Matters has this to say about it.
http://mediamatters.org/research/2015/01/21/media-ignore-the-government-subsidies-helping-j/202221

[WillyT]

31. Huge K & R !!! - Thank You !!!

[workinclasszero]

40. Aw damn another republican welfare queen

HYPOCRITE!!!