The New Yorker is out with the latest iteration of the portrait-of-the-rural-voter-in-a-swing-state story. This time the focus is on western Wisconsin.
The money-quote comes from one Dennis Kragness, who owns the 2,400-cow Denmark Dairy in Dunn County. He explains his support for Drumpf thusly:
“I’m not in favor of any kind of socialism,” he said. “We’re a capitalist farm.”
A quick search of the Environmental Working Group’s farm subsidy database, however, reveals that Kragness and his family have benefited from about $800,000 in government subsidies. (And that’s just counting the Kragnesses in western WI; could easily be more if the Kragnesses in MN and FL also own a share of the Denmark Dairy, and I’m totally ignoring people with other last names who may have a stake in the farm.)
I have no beef (see what I did there) with Mr. Kragness or any farmer getting subsidies. In fact, I’d be ok with increasing farm subsidies (ideally, more equitably distributed) to lower food prices, stave off further farm consolidation, and encourage better stewardship of the land. But you don’t get to take government subsidies for yourself and then turn around and crap on socialism.