Monday, September 20, 2010

Joe the Teabagger - On the Dole for Years, Took Money for Doing Nothing

From the Alaska Dispatch:

After Alaska Dispatch received Miller's farm subsidy records under the Freedom of Information Act and told the Miller campaign about them on Monday, Miller's staff confirmed he received federal payments for 140 acres of cropland he owned in Kansas between 1990 and 1998.

"Like the vast majority of farmers in that region, Joe received payment from the USDA in exchange for managing his crops according to government standards," said campaign spokesman Randy DeSoto in an e-mail Monday night.

Dispatch had earlier linked a Joseph W. Miller -- Miller's legal name -- to farm subsidies for land in Kansas sent to a post office box in Anchorage when Miller was working in the city as an attorney. Miller's campaign was asked last week whether the candidate was the Joe Miller who got those funds but refused to answer until late Monday. Since the question was asked, Alaska Dispatch linked candidate Joe Miller to that address -- P.O. Box 112926 in Anchorage.

This is the Anchorage address at which the attorney and his family received Permanent Fund dividend checks; it is the address Miller used on his state hunting and fishing licenses; and a Freedom of Information Act request has now revealed it is the address to which the U.S. Department of Agriculture mailed 61 farm subsidy checks worth a total of $7,235 from 1991 through 1997.

The subsidies -- ranging from $2 to $1,621 -- were for sorghum and wheat deficiencies, an agriculture conservation program, disaster assistance, and production flexibility on wheat on sorghum, according to payment records from the Department of Agriculture.


Earlier in the article, the Dispatch notes:

Farm subsidies became an issue in Miller's campaign last week when an Alaska blogger incorrectly reported that he'd collected thousands of dollars in connection with a 1,000-acre plot of land near Delta Junction that Miller himself describes as "overgrown." Miller and his staff denied those accusations to Alaska Dispatch. Until Monday night, the campaign had also dodged questions as to whether Miller had received federal farm subsidies for land in Kansas, where he once lived.


One has to wonder a few things here:

Did The Mudflats get keyed into the Delta Junction land through something Mudflats hasn't yet revealed? With one notable exception, in my book, The Mudflats has done exceedingly well on very small resources at getting accurate information out to the public on important issues and events. The Dispatch is being sugar-mommied by a billionaire.

Now, here's the Dispatch, going all "nanny-nanny-boo-boo" at The Mudflats, when the jury is still out on just what this guy who already knew how to bilk the Feds out of more money on crop scams than Vic Kohring went to prison for, may have been involved with, in his "overgrown" weed patch on the Tanana River.

And also, nobody in the Alaska media seems interested in pursuing what I found out, confronting Miller at the Alaska State Fair last month. This is Joe Miller, about to yell at me, "Why would I do away with Veterans benefits? I'm a seriously disabled Veteran!"
Let's take this grifter down, folks.

9 comments:

AKRNC said...

Does anyone know why Miller is claiming to be a "seriously disabled vet"? Is he receiving checks for this disability? He's ready to take money from anyone in need, except himself. Just like Bachmann, they take farm subsidies and complain about the very same programs that help anyone else. Disgusting hypocrites!

Maeve said...

I was wondering why he didn't do the standard 6 year stint in the army after graduating from West Point. He was in Desert Storm, got a Bronze Star and then went into the reserves...I think its fairly unusual that he got off so easily.

So, let's see, undergraduate degree - paid for by taxpayers, salary and benefits in Fairbanks, paid for by the taxpayers, farm subsidies paid for by the taxpayers...I think we should get him off the dole before he goes and earns a congressional pension and the best health care taxpayer money can buy!

Anonymous said...

Do you have any idea WHY it's important to independently verify sources ?

Your credibility is already suspect after the "FBI is investigating the Palins" disaster that you created.

Anonymous said...

I hope Lisa takes this guy down...and quick. He's a nobody who if allowed to go to D.C., will be harder than hell to get rid of. COD too. These people are embarrassing.

Anonymous said...

Military records are FOIA-able. Did he really graduate West Point? Does he really have a Bronze Star? How long did he really serve in Iraq? His military records would show the real story. File an FOIA request on your own. You might not get a response before the election, but if there's something that doesn't jive with what Miller's saying, it could force him to resign. It is unusual for a WP grad to be released early from his obligation after graduation. There aren't many "seriously disabling" disabilities that wouldn't be apparent by sight. He looks to have all his limbs, he doesn't walk with a limp. He might suffer the disability of the modern war - PTSD - and if so, the voters of Alaska are entitled to know that before they put him in the Senate. Don't wait for the papers or Mudflats, file your own FOIA.

Philip Munger said...

anon @ 4:05 am wrote:

"Your credibility is already suspect after the "FBI is investigating the Palins" disaster that you created."

I'm not sure where this FBI stuff comes from. What I wrote on July 3, 2009, was that I had received an email that said:

"Here’s a quote I got from law enforcement here in Alaska yesterday afternoon regarding Palin "a criminal indictment is pending authorization."

That was based on having gotten an email that said exactly that.

I have no idea what kind of disability Miller was referring to in his comment to me. I am suggesting here, as I have elsewhere since the state fair conversation, that Miller be asked about it.

Anonymous said...

I'm with Anon. at 5;36 am. File the Foia yourself! No point waiting for someone else to do it and you're no less competent a blogger than Mudflats or anyone else. You know ADN isn't going to do it.

Anonymous said...

Nothing new here.

Typical hypocrisy.

Goobermint spending is bad.

Goobermint entitlements go to the undeserving- unless that is my subsidy that we are talking about.

Derail all the gravytrains except the one going to my bank account.

Because it sure isn't Joe's fault that all the farmers in Kansas get goobermint subsidies.

" Joe received payment from the USDA in exchange for managing his crops according to government standards,"

Which means what other than "Everyone did it and I did it too"?

beth said...

RE; Joe "The Joke" Miller's Military service...

According to the West Point site:
"[...] Upon graduation, you will be awarded a Bachelor of Science degree and a commission in the U.S. Army. In turn, you are obligated to serve five years on active duty in the U.S. Army, and three years in an inactive reserve status."
http://admissions.usma.edu/moreinfo/obligations.cfm

According to the documents he's PDFed on his website [it is one icky place, let me tell you, kids...] he graduated West Point on 24 May 1989. He was commissioned into the [Regular] Army, presumably, a day or two before before that date. He was Honorably Discharged from the [Regular] Army as a First Lieutenant on 1 September 1992. (That would give him 3 years, 10 weeks of RA service.)

His Honorable Discharge from the US Army Reserves --as a Captain -- is dated 30 May 1997. {Presuming he joined the Reserves immediately upon his Discharge from the RA, that'd give him Reserve service of 4 years, 10 months.) http://joemiller.us/about/candidate-records

That'd give Uncle Sam 3 years, two and a half months of Active duty service, and 4 years, 10 months of Reserve duty service from Joe - a total of 8 years.

I, too, would be interested to find out when he was "seriously disabled." Since the requirement is for FIVE year's active duty upon graduation, I'm guessing it was [about] 3years into that commitment?

I'd also like to know (although it'd probably be blocked by FERPA, or some such) what percentage his disability is rated... the higher the percentage, the higher his tax-free monthly disability payment.
Here's an overview of compensation: http://www.military.com/benefits/military-pay/va-disability-compensation

Here are the rates of compensation by percentage: http://www.military.com/benefits/veteran-benefits/va-compensation-tables
[Note: the compensation is ALSO based on how many children one has...]

Oh, so many questions...so little time to get the information out to the voters. So little time to tell them the TRUTH about this Teabagging Talibangelist whose already picking out furniture for his senate office.