Congressman who Attacked ‘Fit’ Couple on Food Stamps Took $370,000 In Stimulus

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Congressman Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) who blasted a “physically fit” couple for using food stamps at a suburban Virginia grocery store, collected 370,000 dollars in federal stimulus money for his Oklahoma plumbing company. Mullin who brags about turning the plumbing company into a successful business never mentions the government help he received to make it thrive. Or if he did not need the money to prop up his plumbing firm, he never mentions that his business was “physically fit” and that he did not actually need stimulus money to keep it afloat.

Mullin has become a text book case in Republican hypocrisy. He attacks food stamp recipients for collecting a couple hundred dollars a month in assistance needed to eat, but says no word about collecting 370,000 dollars in federal assistance to install toilets and lay pipes. To be fair, the projects that the stimulus money funded, which included building affordable housing in Northeast Oklahoma, are probably worthy projects. The problem is that Mullin is so quick to judge others for using federal money and that he espouses vehement anti-government rhetoric while he pockets federal money.

After winning his GOP House primary in 2012, Mullin remarked “government needs to have a limited role in our lives. We can take care of ourselves.”  Of course, it is easier to take care of yourself after the federal government cuts you a few checks totaling 370 grand. No wonder Mr. Mullin looks so physically fit. Like Michelle Bachmann who enriched herself as a tax attorney for the IRS, Markwayne Mullin has gotten wealthy with the help of the federal government. Like Bachmann, Congressman Mullin then turns around and attacks federal spending in order to curry favor with the Tea Party base that feeds off of his rabid anti-government rhetoric.  Mullin seems to think feeding people or providing relief for hurricane victims is wasteful government spending, but when there are hundreds of thousands of dollars available to subsidize his business he is at the front of the line with his hand out.  Like so many of the Tea Party firebrands, Congressman Markwayne Mullin is a hypocrite of the first magnitude.

Keith Brekhus

Keith Brekhus is a progressive American who currently resides in Red Lodge, Montana. He is co-host for the Liberal Fix radio show. He holds a Master’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Missouri. In 2002, he ran for Congress as a Green Party candidate in the state of Missouri. In 2014, he worked as a field organizer for Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick’s successful re-election bid in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District. He can be followed on Twitter @keithbrekhus or on Facebook.