Sen. Joni Ernst's family actually received more than $460,000 in federal subsidies

Arturo Garcia
21 Jan 2015 at 21:01 ET                  
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Despite Sen. Joni Ernst's (R-IA) rhetoric about growing up poor on Tuesday night, her family actually received hundreds of thousands of dollars in government aid between 1995 and 2009, the District Sentinel news co-op reported.
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Farm subsidy records indicate that the freshman senator's father, Richard Culver, has received $38,395 in commodity subsidies and conservation payments, with all but $12 of the money being used for support of his corn crops. Ernst's uncle, Dallas Culver, has reportedly received $250,000 in federal corn subsidies and $117,141 in additional aid. And her paternal grandfather, Harold Culver, got an additional $57,479 in aid between 1995 and 2001.
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Ernst did not mention her family's use of federal programs during her response to the State of the Union. Instead, she said she was raised "simply" and taught to live within her means.
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