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.
I want it all out there in the primaries...I'm tired of October surprises ...that always hurt the Repub.
I don't have a favorite candidate and I want all the info I can get before I have to pick one. If you have a problem with that, it's not my problem!
You want info on her kids. How pathetic is that?
I'm thinking of the rally in Philadelphia a couple of years ago. Had that breath-of-fresh air quality.
You are quite correct of course. I was caught up in the idea of the grassroots folks being the voice of the party, and that candidates should be listeners, not talkers as it were.
Yes, humans are flawed. Sometimes we conservatives vet our candidates a bit harshly. The left would push a kiddie molester as a candidate, and we expect ours to be perfect. Beating up our candidates over trivial things, while the left institutes 'radio silence' on candidates whom they know are greatly flawed.
The left essentially owns the First Amendment. We need to take it back.
This country is so polarized that I think that there is going to be a showdown. Call it irreconcilable differences. The left controls all things needed to keep our Constitutional Republic viable. Of course, they don't want that form of government. Big trouble coming.
That's a bloody lie, and you know it.
I agree with your response without reservation but would offer one comment about the excerpt above. If a candidate fully followed the "listener" mode, we would quickly begin to question the candidate's Leadership quotient or ability to translate philosophy/principles into concrete proposals.
BTW, I especially agree with your third paragraph.
No! Where did you get that?
I want more info on her involvement with the foster kids she claims she "raised." Some have said she used them as baby-sitters for her own kids.
We know foster homes are temporary...why does she claim to have "raised" 23 (or whatever) foster kids? Did she adopt any or did they come and go? There could be a real embarrassment with some of them...I would like it all out there now! Did she and her husband get paid a lot of $$$ as foster parents?
She has raised questions about finances already...something about her husband's or FIL's farm subsities.
Surprise, surprise, a hit piece on Michele Bachmann from a pro-Palin website. Obviously C4P must be afraid of Bachmann if they’re attacking her.
And how sad that they would go after the most conservative candidate who has announced so far. What are you afraid of C4P?
I think you need to put down the bong. It’s having a negative affect on your brain. ;-)
Randy Scheunemann
Maybe you shouldn’t run your mouth while willfully ignorant.
Like I said, I was aware of it but was adult enough to see it as part of the politics in the country so it wasn’t a big deal. The only reason I mention it now is to show your double standards.
Why do you put the word raised in quotes? And why do you use the word claimed? The claims s he used them as baby sitters for her own kids have come from far left publications like Huffington Post, Daily Beast, Salon, etc. I thought Freepers were smarter than to believe the crap peddled on those websites.
Good point. What we would have is decisions based on poll numbers, which we have discovered is a terrible idea.
Randy Scheunemann is hardly "Soros people." He was the ONLY member of the McCain campaign who stood up to Schmidt and Wallace, and was fired for his loyalty to Sarah. She then hired him to help her with her Hong Kong speech. His firm (and not him personally) did a SINGLE small DEMOCRACY project in BURMA for a Soros-funded outfit in DC, but that was it. Since then, Sarah has not engaged him or his firm in any other capacity.
Ed Rollins, on the other hand, is a notorious RINO hitman, with an extensive and well-documented record of attacking Sarah and the TEA Party. That MB even considered hiring him to run her campaign speaks volumes about her character, integrity, and ambition. Get YOUR facts straight, bub, before you shoot off your blowhole.
Quoting her...her word; used in TV comments before she declared. Do I remember the date, location? No. I thought it weird when she used that word. If you have a problem with it, talk to her!
The claims she used them as baby sitters for her own kids have come from far left publications like Huffington Post, Daily Beast, Salon, etc. I thought Freepers were smarter than to believe the crap peddled on those websites.
I thought FReepers were smart enough to know by now that it doesn't matter WHERE it comes from, if it's out there, it's out there! True or not, it will be blown up and made into a national security issue. IMO, better now than later!
I want all the info I can get. Now! If you or others prefer to proceed in ignorance, that's your choice.
Get off your high horse because I don't even want to understand not wanting all the info you can get...or avoiding the truth!
Scheunemann is an advisor to the open society institute (Not to mention the whole stable or RINOs he’s been involved with)
The only people smoking bongs around here are MB supporters who refuse to recognize the fact that she has betrayed both Sarah Palin and the TEA Party movement in order to pursue her own personal ambitions.
And he hasn't worked for Palin in years. So try again.
P.S.--
How could I have possibly heard the claims that came from the far left publications and websites since I never go there? --ever!
Get it?
LOL
"If we want to eliminate anyone, we need to work on pushing Romney, Gingrich, and Huntsman out first...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."Your sentiments mirrored mine right up until the time Michele Bachmann made the decision to follow Ed Rollins. Cain and Palin truly seem to understand what needs to be done. Bachmann seems to be in over her head.
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