Is Michele Bachmann serious?
The Associated Press is reporting that Bachmann said that a multibillion-dollar settlement awarded to black farmers is wasteful government spending.
The charge surfaced after Bachmann and Republican Rep. Steve King of Iowa inspected flooded areas along the Missouri River, the AP writes. After the tour, the pair answered a question about whether farmers affected by the flooding should be concerned about proposed cuts to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the report shows.
The pair responded by criticizing a 1999 settlement in what is known as the Pigford case, after the original plaintiff, North Carolina farmer Timothy Pigford, the AP writes. "Late last year, President Barack Obama signed legislation authorizing a new, nearly $1.2 billion settlement for people who were denied payments in the earlier one because they missed deadlines for filing," the story says.
King compared the settlement to "modern-day reparations" for African Americans, saying that large percentages were paid out in fraudulent claims. Bachmann agreed, adding that "when money is diverted to inefficient projects, like the Pigford project, where there seems to be proof-positive of fraud, we can't afford $2 billion in potentially fraudulent claims when that money can be used to benefit the people along the Mississippi River and the Missouri River."
Bachmann outdoes herself every time she speaks about the African American-community. Surely she is joking.
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Read more at ABCNews.
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