Cook: Tom Cotton’s ‘Pants On Fire’ And Spreading Falsehoods

It never ceases to amaze me when candidates blurt out blatant falsehoods and then expect to get away with it. The latest example is the whopper of a tale Tom Cotton told on Tuesday before the Arkansas Farm Bureau candidate forum.

You may recall that Tom Cotton was the only Arkansas Congressman to vote against the Farm Bill and this has caused major problems for him in a state where agriculture is the dominant industry.  Cotton attempted to explain away his vote today in front of the group by calling the legislation a “food stamp bill.”

Then Cotton told a whopper by claiming millionaires could get food stamps. Here is Cotton’s exact quote in reference to the food stamps program:

“There’s still no asset test, which means millionaires can get food stamps.”

A U.S. Congressman claimed that millionaires are gaming the system and getting food stamps, so of course reporters asked Cotton about this after his speech concluded.

When asked by the media, Cotton could not point to even one millionaire who received food stamps. Not one. And do you know why that is? Because Cotton’s statement is a “pants on fire” whopper.

In 2011, presidential candidate Newt Gingrich used this same false storyline of millionaires legally receiving food stamps. Politifact investigated this and ruled the claim as a “Pants of Fire” statement. To claim millionaires legally can get food stamps is simply not true – or more to the point – a lie.

To receive food stamps, you cannot make more than 130 percent of the poverty line, which obviously discounts millionaires.

Cotton attempted to give himself cover with reporters by claiming a millionaire could have assets, but no income, thus qualifying for food stamps.

C’mon now, Congressman Cotton, did you you really say that with a straight face? You expect us to believe that somebody has a million-dollar home, but doesn’t somehow bring in more than $1,681 a month? That’s the most you can make in a month, before taxes, for a two-person household and still be eligible for food stamps.

In the end, Tom Cotton will tell any whopper to hide the fact he was the only Arkansas Congressman to vote against the Farm Bill.