Is Michele Bachmann A Welfare Queen?

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann

It seems that a lot of government funds that have flowed into the coffers of Michele Bachmann and her husband over the years. While she rails against big government she has taken in large sums of government money. While not officially on the welfare rolls, could Bachmann be considered a government welfare queen?

I know that the classic image of the welfare queen is someone down on their luck, living in government provided housing and considered to be gaming the system, of course that is far from the truth. What do you call a member of Congress that is running for President that has taken in hundreds of thousands of dollars from the government?

An article titled “ConservativeCash Crop” July 1, 2011 by Timothy Egan and printed in the New York Times July 1, 2011 states how a farm, in which Bachmann is a partner, received $251,000 in federal farm subsidies from 1995-2009. The same article indicated Marcus Bachman, Michele Bachmann’s husband, collected Medicaid payments of $137,000 for his mental health clinic since 2005 and $24,000 for staff training from the state of Minnesota. If you are keeping track, that is $412,000 since 1995. Remember Michele Bachmann is a lawyer that represented the IRS and should know all of the angles on government tax subsidies and loopholes.

Michele Bachmann seems to be another in a long line of opportunistic political figures who has constructed a mythology of words that does not come close to matching reality. It also now seems that her often mentioned claim of raising 23 foster children is being questioned. An article titled “Michele Bachmann's History As A Foster Parent Remains Murky” by Jason Cerkis July 1, 2011 in the Huffington Post indicates that Michele Bachmann did indeed keep foster children, but it seems for short periods at a time from 1992 through 1998. According to the article, Bachmann primarily kept teenage girls and sought out unwed mothers according to an official from the company that licensed her as a foster parent and he said one foster child stayed with her for almost one year. It seems the definition of the word “raised” is at issue.

Michele Bachmann will go the way of Sarah Palin over time as the facts catch up with her self-created superwoman mythology. It is laudable that Michele Bachmann became a foster parent, but if she is stretching the truth of that issue for political gain she will pay the price for doing so. The charges of an unfair media bias will be coming as she will be confronted with her real history, but by that time she will be positioned to profit from speeches, books and television appearances.

Running for President is an opportunity for Michele Bachmann to position herself to cash in like her contemporary, Sarah Palin. Bachmann has learned well by watching Palin. Sarah Palin rode her failed Vice Presidential bid to fame and fortune and Bachmann will do the same with her run for the Presidency of the United Sates of America.