A parasite calling kettle black?

Through Ed Brayton, I've learned about David Jungerman, a Missouri farmer who had recently painted his tractor trailer with the message: "Are you a producer or a parasite? Democrats - party of parasites." This is murderous irony since most farming in the U.S. is inefficient and sustainable only because of government subsidies (a.k.a. handouts); Brayton quotes the Kansas City Star which determined that Jungerman himself has received over a million dollars in farm subsidies since 1995. The paper goes on to say

"That's just my money coming back to me," Jungerman (...) said Monday. "I pay a lot in taxes. I'm not a parasite." (...) Jungerman said he put up the sign to protest people who pay no taxes, but, "Always have their hand out for whatever the government will give them" in social programs.

To this Brayton replies

Sorry, still doesn't fly. I bet he hasn't paid a million dollars in taxes in the last 15 years.

Both Jungerman and Brayton are missing the point here. You can be a net income tax payer and still be a "parasite." For example, there are plenty of indirect farm subsidies which work as price distortions; basically, the government pays to inflate prices of goods sold by farmers and to deflate prices of goods bought by them. So it is very well possible that not just Jungerman's farm subsidies money, but his very income, is in fact a handout. Of course there's no way for me to know if this is actually the case. My point is that just because someone is a net income tax payer does not mean he's a "producer."

An then of course there's a broader point, which everybody is missing, not just Brayton. That point is that just because someone is a hypocrite does not necessarily mean that what he's saying is false.