Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, a critic of federal spending, received between $5,000 and $15,000 in income last year from a family farm that has received more than $250,000 in federal subsidies.
Bachmann, winner of the Aug. 13 Iowa Straw Poll for Republican presidential contenders, reported in her House financial-disclosure form that her interest in the farm was valued at between $500,000 and $1 million in 2010; a year earlier, she assigned the value of Bachmann Farm Family LP at between $100,000 and $250,000. Lawmakers can list income and assets in broad ranges.
The farm in Independence, Wisconsin, received $259,332 in federal subsidies from 1995 to 2008, according to U.S. government data compiled by the Environmental Working Group, a Washington-based research and advocacy organization focusing on public health and environmental issues. The farm received no federal subsidies in 2009 or 2010, said Sara Sciammacco, a spokeswoman for the organization.
Bachmann said in an April interview that the farm belongs to her in-laws and that her husband administers it for his mother and brothers. She also said the farm is rented out.
“My husband and I have never received a dime from the farm,” she said. “We list it because he’s a trustee, but we don’t receive any income at all from the farm because he is the trustee and it’s in what’s called a family limited partnership.”
Bachmann voted against raising the U.S. debt ceiling and called for deep cuts in federal spending, including supporting the House Republican plan to end traditional Medicare.
‘Shut Down’ Spending
“What we do need to do is dramatically shut down the level of spending,” she said on Aug. 12 on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt.” “We can’t accept the new normal in spending.”
Bachmann, 55, received an extension from the May 15 deadline for submitting the annual disclosure forms. She reported that her husband’s psychotherapy practice and clinic was valued at $600,000 to $1.25 million.
The clinic received $30,000 in government money, which Bachmann said on “Fox News Sunday” in June went to train employees.
“The clinic did not get the money,” she said. “And my husband and I did not get the money either.”
She reported taking three trips with expenses paid by organizations, including one to the anti-tax Club for Growth’s economic conference in Palm Beach, Florida, in November.
--Editors: Bob Drummond, Mark McQuillan.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jonathan D. Salant in Washington at jsalant@bloomberg.net; Lisa Lerer in Washington at llerer@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net.
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