Posted on 07/10/2011 6:09:52 AM PDT by curth
It’s common these days to hear media talking heads refer to Michele Bachmann as the “Tea Party favorite” in the upcoming 2012 GOP primary race. Unlike Governor Palin who has always stated that the Tea Party doesn’t need one specific leader, Bachmann has tried to cast herself into such a role. She created a “Tea Party Caucus” in congress and gave the “Tea Party response” following Obama’s State of the Union Address last January.
The Tea Party is comprised mainly of independent-minded small government activists who are sick and tired of the way Washington is operating. These are people who are fed up with DC insiders cutting deals with officials at the expense of this country’s future. A bloated, centralized system of government with too many payouts has spawned the biggest grassroots movement in recent history. A person who professes to speak for such a group of patriots at the highest level had better “walk the talk.”
While Bachmann may talk a good game, her actions are leaving many with questions that she has yet to adequately answer. Steve Bannon discussed one of these questions during a recent interview with PV Radio that Ian posted on Friday, concerning her family receiving large sums in Medicaid payments for their clinics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciyQ2S8yQCU&feature=player_embedded
(Partial transcript excerpt, emphasis mine)
“And I think quite frankly, she’s got to learn to answer questions. Like Chris Wallace asked a very straightforward question, she had every opportunity to explain this. And she gave quite frankly, an unacceptable answer. The answer was very misleading. And that’s just not going to wash, particularly if you want to hold the banner of the Tea Party, you’ve got to almost be a purist. That means, if you believe in limited government, then you’ve really got to believe in limited government. You can’t talk about limited government and take the benefits from the large state.“
Despite being an unlicensed “therapist” practicing a controversial form of counseling, Marcus Bachmann received more than $137,000 in Medicaid payments for his clinics in Minnesota. According to Michael Isikoff:
Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., has forcefully denounced the Medicaid program for swelling the “welfare rolls.”
The amount is a much higher than the previously reported sum of $24,000 that she answered for during that interview with Chris Wallace. Isikoff writes:
The previously unreported payments are on top of the $24,000 in federal and state funds that Bachmann & Associates, the clinic founded by Marcus Bachmann, a clinical therapist, received in recent years under a state grant to train its employees, state records show. The figures were provided to NBC News in response to a Freedom of Information request.
The $161,000 in payments from the Minnesota Department of Human Services to her husband’s clinic appear to contradict some of Michelle Bachmann’s public accounts this week when she was first asked about the extent to which her family has benefited from government aid. Contacted this afternoon, Alice Stewart, a spokeswoman for Bachmann, said the congresswoman was doing campaign events and was not immediately available for comment.
Questions about the Bachmann family’s receipt of government funds arose this week after a Los Angeles Times story reported that a family farm in which Michelle Bachmann is a partner had received nearly $260,000 in federal farm subsidies.
When asked by anchor Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday” about the story’s assertion that her husband’s counseling clinic had also gotten federal and state funds, Bachmann replied that it was “one-time training money that came from the federal government. And it certainly didn’t help our clinic.”
At another point, she said, “My husband and I did not get the money,” adding that it was “mental health training money that went to the employees.”
But state records show that Bachmann & Associates has been collecting payments under the Minnesota’s Medicaid program every year for the past six years. Karen Smigielski, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services, said the state’s Medicaid program is funded “about 50-50″ with federal and state monies. The funds to Bachmann & Associates are for the treatment of low-income mentally ill patients and are based on a “fee for service” basis, meaning the clinic was reimbursed by Medicaid for the services it provided.
By stating that the payments were a “one-time” payment, Michele Bachmann was dishonest with the audience. She was clearly trying to downplay the issue, perhaps knowing that it hurts her credibility with that large group of grassroots conservatives across the country that she seeks support from.
Medicaid payments to her husbands business isn’t the only issue the congresswoman is going to face tough questions about. Michele Bachmann waves the Gadsden flag and calls herself an “outsider,” yet she hired many DC “insiders” to run her campaign. She came under some heat for hiring Ed Rollins, but most of those criticisms died down when her people had stated that Bachmann forced Rollins to apologize to Palin’s staff. I never saw any press accounts one way or the other whether Rollins actually apologized, or if those where just more empty words from Team Bachmann. Perhaps someone in the press will look into that one day.
Steve Bannon was right when he spoke about holding the banner of the Tea Party. The people within the movement won’t allow politicians to use their cause to simply advance themselves. They are aware and educated activists who are not easily fooled. When an elected official stands with them and speaks their language, they had better back it up with their actions.
There's a lot of truth in that statement.
No doubt. I'm with you all the way.
I use a NASCAR example. Palin, Bachman, and Cain need to be drafting partners to stay in the front. We can worry about who crosses the finish line first in the final lap.
Bear in mind that I don't dislike Bachman. You have nailed down the situation perfectly.
This is like a World War I artillery barrage that precedes an assault. Just more leftist scheming. Subliminally picking our candidates for us.
The ignorance here is from the individual who states that Palin supporters are loons simply because the obvious is pointed out about Bachman, even if you are NOT a Bachman supporter. Would you care to mention who you prefer as a candidate or are you scared it will REALLY highlight the ignorant one among us?
Bachmann has already tried to run Sarah off the track, and so that won't be happening anytime soon.
This type of infighting is bad.
She does it on Mark Levin's Show as well.
I’m still in my “coffee and Captain Crunch” mode.
Aristotle’s followers are said to have discussed philosophy while walking about with him—hence their name: “peripatetics.” I suppose they could have been said to “walk the talk.”
For the rest of us, the saying is “if you’re going to talk the talk, you’ve got to walk the walk”—a modern version of old sayings like “actions speak louder than words” and “practice what you preach.” Another early form of the expression was “walk it like you talk it.”
Many people now condense this to “walk the talk,” which makes a sort of sense (act on your speech), but strikes those who are more familiar with the original form as confused.
I think you’re not seeing the point.
If we choose to ignore any issues a candidate may or may not have with their past (and all candidates have issues with their past) in order to promote harmony amongst all the Republican candidates, we will end up with a non vetted candidate whom the Democrats and their media will have a field day with come 2012.
Additionally, if there are no contrasts or criticisms between the candidates this season (as some seem to believe is the appropriate path), then we might as well hold our coronation for Gov. Romney right now.
As a Palin supporter, (please run!) I must say it does no good to try to make MB appear smaller. The GOP WILL not nominate a sitting Rep; they SHOULD not nominate any present or former Senator. Does Bachman give the taxpayer his money’s worth? If not, there’s a scandal. It’s possible Todd and Sarah have taken a gubmint dime at some point, it doesn’t make them bad people.
As a Palin supporter, (please run!) I must say it does no good to try to make MB appear smaller. The GOP WILL not nominate a sitting Rep; they SHOULD not nominate any present or former Senator. Does Bachman give the taxpayer his money’s worth? If not, there’s a scandal. It’s possible Todd and Sarah have taken a gubmint dime at some point, it doesn’t make them bad people.
As a Palin supporter, (please run!) I must say it does no good to try to make MB appear smaller. The GOP WILL not nominate a sitting Rep; they SHOULD not nominate any present or former Senator. Does Bachman give the taxpayer his money’s worth? If not, there’s a scandal. It’s possible Todd and Sarah have taken a gubmint dime at some point, it doesn’t make them bad people.
“I don’t know if it’s just my imagination, but Perry and Bachmann give off the same type of ‘me-me-me’ scent”
Its just your imagination.
Yep, and it's all Bachmann's fault. She cut some sort of a deal with the GOP-E back in December to help take down Sarah. In January, members of her staff suddenly showed up in Iowa and South Carolina and started bad mouthing Sarah to the state and local GOP leaders. Next thing you know she hired Ed Rollins, who promptly plunged a dagger in Sarah's back only 24 hours after taking the job as MB's campaign manager.
MB could have taken the high-road and tag-teamed with Sarah to defeat the corrupt GOP good ol' boys club in DC and Obama, but instead she has proven herself to be a graceless opportunist who made a deal with some devils who will yank the rug from out under her as soon as her job of stopping Sarah is done.
Not the Tea Party I remember. Starting to act like politicians.
IMO when people have careers and 5 kids of their own, they are short-changing theirs by bringing in a bunch of other kids.
Comparing the two, I think Sarah is sharper.
I’m not taking sides yet but I like to use a score card to learn if the speaker has any ulterior motives: Who is Steve Bannon?
http://www.breitbart.tv/interview-steve-bannon-the-man-who-brought-sarah-palins-story-to-the-screen/
The Tea Party you "remember" really never was the idealized construct any of us desire it to be. Those who lead and seek to speak as "The Voice of the Tea Party" are cut from the same cloth as those doing the same in any other political party/movement in history. They are the same flawed human beings each of us encounter in our daily activities.
Where was your self righteousness when Palin had Soros people on her campaign? Where was it when she was siding with Romneyites to back RINOs all around the country?
If you don’t know about these things, maybe its because adults looked at them and decided that they were basic politics and let them slide. She backed a RINO with a campaign full of Romney staffers in my district. I didn’t throw a tantrum about it, I disagreed and voted for the conservative.
Instead you act like a 5 year old and cling to a pretty minor comment from Ed Rollins some two months ago and behave as if he had said Trig was Bristol’s child. All he said was that she wasn’t a serious candidate when the reality is that she isn’t a candidate at all. That’s not an attack, its a simple fact until she decides to get in the race.
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