3 GOP State Senators in Wisconsin Get Farm Subsidies

Three GOP state senators in Wisconsin fighting to cut wages and collective bargaining rights of public workers in the name of the budget have accepted a total of about $300,000 in federal farm subsidies, reports Sam Stein at the Huffington Post. There's no direct link between the subsidies and the state's budget crisis—but it doesn't exactly support Republicans' argument that they're out to rein in government spending, say critics.

“Members of both parties preach fiscal austerity all the time, but then when it comes to farm subsides going to farmers in their districts, they think the spigot should remain wide open,” says a spokesman for a group that tracks the subsidies.