From the website of Tea Partier Stephen Fincher, (R) Tennessee:
"Government spending, deficits and debt are the greatest threat our country faces. We need to cut up the national credit card, reduce spending, and get our financial house in order. This must be our national priority..."
- Rep. Stephen Fincher
"Our budget deficit doubled in 2008 and again in 2009. We raised the debt ceiling to nearly $2 TRILLION dollars just this year. Our national debt stands at over $12 TRILLION, but that's not the whole story. The unfunded debt is closer to $70 TRILLION. Our children, our grandchildren and their children will be paying the price for our failures."
"Third, we need earmark reform. We need transparency. We need to change the culture in Washington. When a Tennessee family has to make tough decisions, they sit down and prioritize spending. Government just spends and borrows and taxes. We're going to have to make some tough decisions, cut spending and get our country back on the right track.
There are plenty of specific examples of wasteful government spending that we can cut, but mainly, it will take the discipline and will to do the right thing."
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Tea Party Hypocrisy? Some Lawmakers With Tea Party Ties Are on the Government Dole
Which Tea Partiers Are Getting Hundreds of Thousands of Government Dollars?
By JONATHAN KARL and AVERY MILLER
The biggest recipient was Rep. Stephen Fincher, a Republican from Frog Jump, Tenn.
While the self-described Tea Party patriot lists his occupation as "farmer" and "gospel singer" in the Congressional Directory, he doesn't mention that his family has received more than $3 million in farm subsidies from 1995 to 2009, according to the Environmental Working Group.
When asked whether he would be willing to see all his subsidies go away, Fincher would not directly say he would no longer take any more subsidies.
"We need a good, better, we need a better farm program and we need to streamline it," he said. "We need to look at many many options. And that's a long way off."
