Stephen Fincher, best known for his role in the “Fincher Family” singing ministry, is now the Republican nominee in a top Congressional race in northwestern Tennessee. He is running as a livid critic of “wasteful government spending,” and says that “when a Tennessee family has to make tough decisions, they sit down and prioritize spending. Government just spends and borrows and taxes.”

Despite all of his heated anti-government rhetoric, it appears that when Stephen Fincher has to make tough decisions about family spending, the only decision he makes is: how much money should I request from the government?

Republican Stephen Fincher, who has spoken against government spending and “bailouts” in his congressional campaign, applied for and received a $13,650 grant from the state Department of Agriculture last year, records show. The state grant is in addition to federal farm subsidies of at least $3.2 million he and his wife have received over the last 10 years, a major target of his Republican opponents before his Aug. 5 primary election victory. The state grant, awarded during the state fiscal year that ended June 30, has not been previously disclosed publicly. The grant to help buy grain hauling and storage equipment is part of the Tennessee Agricultural Enhancement Program, a cost-share grant created by the state legislature in 2005 to help improve farm income. The state pays up to half the cost of implements and equipment under several categories.

Fincher is another case of Tea Party Republicans who hate government except for when it helps them. For example, Rand Paul bashes Medicare, but doesn’t want to cut Medicare payments to doctors like himself; Sharron Angle and Joe Miller criticize government involvement in health care, but don’t mind having government insurance for their families. And a new Center for Public Integrity report details the Republican Congressmen who consistently criticize the stimulus, but then request and publicly credit themselves for winning stimulus money in order to help their reelection bids.

One would hope that Fincher would come clean about the money he receives from the government in a public debate or forum. Unfortunately, Fincher refuses to participate in any debate because he is upset that his opponent criticized him!