Michele Bachmann: Pork Spending Queen

Literally. Bachmann pushed for government subsidies of pork products for her home state of Minnesota.

Update: This is part of a letter Bachmann wrote to former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

"Your efforts to stabilize prices through direct government purchasing of pork and dairy products are very much welcomed by the producers in Minnesota, and I would encourage you to take any additional steps necessary to prevent further deterioration of these critical industries, such as making additional commodity purchases and working to expand trade outlets for these and other agricultural goods," Bachmann wrote.

This is the federal government directly getting involved in the private market. Bachmann's request actually has policy merits. My problem is that Bachmann goes around saying that the federal government should never get involved in the private. It is hypocrisy on Bachmann's part.

Here is a list of Bachmann's 2008 earmarks.