Remember the King Ranch, where Dick Cheney shot an old man in the face? Well, American citizens aren’t allowed access to the shootings that happen on the Ranch. But they’re paying the bills. NPR and the CIR report that Dick and Rove’s buddies have been one of the biggest recipient of subsidies from farm bills from 1999 to 2005, sucking in $8.3 million over the time. CIR lays out how much this farm welfare pays to receive such goodies.
Additional reporting by CIR shows that from 1997–2006, King Ranch madeat least $960,000 in federal campaign contributions, including softmoney. The contributions came from King Ranch’s PAC, executives, andboard members.
Since 2001, King Ranch spent at least $850,000 on lobbying. To lobbyfor the Farm Bill, King Ranch hired Katharine Armstrong, whose familyowns the ranch where Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot attorney Harry Whittington.
Though you gotta wonder: how much credit does a hyper-connected farm welfare recipient get for covering up the Vice President’s drunken shooting accidents?
Update: mainsailset is right: the King Ranch is the ranch down the street, not the one where Cheney did the horrible deed. The King Ranch folks were invited to lunch on Sunday, the day that Cheney was still recovering from his shooting hangover and chatted world domination while Whittington had his face picked clean and citizens remained in the dark.