Free Republic

In an interview on GBTV, Michele Bachmann criticized Newt Gingrich’s support for the Medicare Part D prescription drug entitlement program, calling him a “frugal socialist.” “It doesn’t help to have a frugal socialist,” Bachmann said. “That’s really what we’re talking about is managing socialism and trying to be a frugal socialist.” Host Glenn Beck invited her to repeat the accusation, asking her pointblank whether she was calling Newt Gingrich a socialist. “I’m saying a frugal socialist, yes! Because you’re looking at proposals and programs that are in effect redistribution of wealth and socialism-based, and are we going to have real...

Admitting that the playing of the song “Lyin’ Ass Bitch” as GOP presidential candidate Minnesota Representative Michelle Bachman made her entrance on the “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” TV show, was a “miscalculation,” NBC executives announced that the band’s drummer would be “grounded for a week.” “While it may seem unfair to place all the blame on one person, the offense isn’t serious enough to warrant sanctions further up the line,” said NBC Senior Vice-President Doug Vaughan. “If Ms. Bachman had been a more important person sterner measures might’ve been considered.” The precise nature of the so-called “grounding” remains unclear....

Minnesota Repubican Rep. Michele Bachmann may find herself in hot water for information she provided during Tuesday evening’s national security-focused Republican primary debate. Discussing the security threat posed to the United States by Pakistan, Bachmann said, “We have to recognize that 15 of the sites, nuclear sites are available or are potentially penetrable by jihadists. Six attempts have already been made on nuclear sites.” “This is more than an existential threat,” she said. ”We have to take this very seriously.” According to Yochi Dreazen of the National Journal, Bachmann, who serves on the House Intelligence Committee, may have leaked classified...

Over the last couple of months, the Bachmann campaign has been all but left for dead, failing to muster more than 2 to 4 percent in most credible polls since her "flash in the pan" Iowa straw poll victory. Going largely unnoticed, and after Bachmann's SC campaign staff had already attended a "farewell and thank you" dinner that many recognized as a "we did our best" appreciation gesture for her SC staff, Bachmann suddenly receives an enormous cash infusion into her campaign, allowing her to hire an extremely expensive, high brow political consultant, Wesley Donehue. Even more interesting - Wesley...

(CNN) – A tea party group has a surprising and harsh urging for long-time tea party favorite Michele Bachmann: quit the presidential race. "It's time for Michele Bachmann to go," reads the first line of a statement from American Majority President Ned Ryun. His group operates in seven states, trains thousands of tea party supporters and is "liked" by over 371,000 people on Facebook. "Bachmann, the leader of the so-called tea party caucus in the House and the most vocal about her affiliation with the Tea Party than any other Presidential candidate, has consistently presented herself as a champion of...

Fear and Pandering in Las Vegas

Politics: You'd think a Republican debate on the economy would be a perfect time to blast Obama policies as an unmitigated disaster. Yet Obama escaped largely unscathed. Whom do these folks think they're running against? If aliens landed Tuesday night and managed to find the GOP debate on Bloomberg TV, they might think the GOP candidates were running against Ben Bernanke, someone named Dodd-Frank, Obama-Care and China. Newt Gingrich focused his ire, for example, on Bernanke, saying he's "the first person to fire." Michele Bachmann went on about Dodd-Frank, calling it "the jobs and housing destruction act." Rick Santorum said...

As the presidential candidates continue to debate defunding Obamacare , it’s important to remember that the bill has already received $105 billion in advance appropriations. Imagine how this law may expand if President Obama wins a second term or if the law’s architect, Mitt Romney, is elected president. Video follows

'Are you a Mitt Romney guy or a Rick Perry guy?' By: Marin Cogan September 26, 2011 11:29 PM EDT Fewer lawmakers are endorsing a presidential candidate this year, but that hasn’t stanched the whisper primary on Capitol Hill: “Are you a Rick Perry guy or a Mitt Romney guy?” On the House floor, in the cloakrooms and in private conversations, House Republicans are just as gossipy about the presidential contest as any dedicated primary voter, and how lawmakers are choosing sides tells the larger story of the party’s philosophical divide. “I gravitate more toward folks who support Mitt, and...

Adamo: The Rick Perry/Mitt Romney Political 'Horserace' Chris Adamo September 23, 2011 It would be a mistake to believe that the “mainstream” media and press are only interested in boosting ratings as they play up the contest between Texas Governor Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in their quest for the Republican presidential nomination. While increased viewership is a definite “plus,” their ultimate concern is the re-election of Barack Obama. And they have made it abundantly clear that Romney would be their preferred candidate in a general election race. Romney’s political philosophy bears a far stronger resemblance to...

I saw the GOP debate and the Greta interview with Palin and Bachman. I am absolutely against Perry's mandate of the Gardasil vaccine. On policy grounds. Period. But, to see the two ladies pile on with corruption charges against Perry was truly disgusting. If they have any proof that Perry mandated the vaccine to profit Merck, I am the first one who wants it. And, if proof emerges that he did so, I will be the first one to revoke my support for him. It happens in the industry all the time. Acquaintances get you an audience. So, in this...

"Whatever the case, Bachmann's answer in Ames Thursday night was by far the most human moment of her appearance in the debate -- a far cry from her tough exchanges with former Minnesota Gov. (and now former candidate) Tim Pawlenty. At their best, debates tell us new things about candidates and allow us to learn more about aspects of their personalities we haven't seen before. Is there any doubt that moment in Ames on Thursday night did just that for Michele Bachmann?"

"CNN anchor Don Lemon reports that members of the campaign team for Michele Bachmann -- including her husband Marcus Bachmann -- shoved him after an event for the candidate in Des Moines on Friday. It's hard to tell exactly what happened, as both sides have a different account, but Lemon is sticking to his story, so here goes:...."

Media: Talk about the elite lagging behind a more sophisticated public. Newsweek, trying to overcome its slide into obscurity, thought it could grab attention by smearing Tea Party favorite Michele Bachmann. Big mistake. The smear came in the form of this week's cover story, which tried unconvincingly to depict GOP presidential candidate and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann as "The Queen of Rage," with a cover shot that made her look maniacal. But if anything, Bachmann comes across as Thatcheresque in her unmovable opposition to more deficit spending. Question her opposition a journalist may do, but don't make it out as...

Was robo-polled by Rasmussen yesterday. Asked if I were a Tea Party "member" I said yes. Then the question was whether I was an Evangelical!!! So much misunderstanding of grassroots activism. The crux of the poll was whether Bachman could beat Perry or Romney in the primary. Although over 16 candidates were offered for one to choose from, PALIN was curiously omitted from the options!!!

An unusually ignorant story in The Atlantic--with a completely misleading headline—questions the religious affiliation of Rep. Michelle Bachman Republican presidential candidate. Bachman was—but no longer is—a member of a Minnesota Lutheran congregation that belongs to the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. The latter, a theologically conservative group, teaches that the Roman Catholic Church embodies the spirit of Antichrist—although a representative of the group reports that this view is rarely expressed today. Columnist Joshua Green asks whether Catholic voters will find Bachman’s beliefs offensive. But Bachman herself never professed that belief. When questioned about it, she repudiated it, and said that she...

Thirty-one percent of poll respondents in the PPP survey said they want Perry to be the Republican nominee, more than double the number who said they would vote for former Massachusetts Gov. Romney. Only 15 percent said Romney would take their vote in the primary. Tea Party favorite Rep. Michele Bachmann was the first choice of 11 percent of Texas Republicans - the only other candidate to crack double digits. In the recently poll, conservative voters strongly packed Perry with 34 percent of those self-identified voters saying they would cast a ballot for their governor.

Some say Minnesota's Michele Bachmann - a third-term congresswoman who flanks the Republican Party from the right - isn't ready to be president. But that's what they said about Obama. Bachmann, 55, was born to a Democratic family in Waterloo, Iowa... She studied law, and specialized in tax law. She volunteered in 1976 for Jimmy Carter's presidential campaign, which she and her future husband joined after they had met during their studies. But Carter's positions disappointed her deeply and she realized she was a Republican. In Iowa, an evangelical stronghold, she is nipping at the heels of the current leader...

Here is the Left’s understanding of her statement: • Michele Bachmann hopes Melissa Etheridge's cancer will teach her to stop being gay Here is the fuller quote about this 2004 point: • "Unfortunately she is now suffering from breast cancer, so keep her in your prayers. This may be an opportunity for her now to be open to some spiritual things, now that she is suffering with that physical disease. She is a lesbian**." [....] After some fun I asked this of another friend who posted info on Bachmann’s “gaffes”: …. Tell me, what most bugs you about Bachmann besides...

Most everyone has now heard about or watched FNS host Chris Wallace' insulting question to Rep. Michelle Bachman:"Are you a flake?" Wallace has since offered a sort-of apology. But the damage was done and lefties, GOP elitists, no doubt took delight.The fact of the matter is that some in Congress and the Administration do embrace views that are "anti-American". We are fortunate to have those members of Congress who acknowldege and understand this threat.This is not the first time Wallace has served the role of a useful dhimmi interviewer:Just a few weeks ago during his FNS interview with Herman Cain, Wallace regurgitated the false Islamic...

Rep. Michele Bachmann kicked off her presidential campaign on Monday in Waterloo, Iowa, and in one interview surrounding the official event she promised to mimic the spirit of Waterloo's own John Wayne. The only problem, as one eagle-eyed reader notes: Waterloo's John Wayne was not the beloved movie star, but rather John Wayne Gacy, the serial killer. Mrs. Bachmann grew up in Waterloo, and used the town as the backdrop for her campaign announcement, where she told Fox News: "Well what I want them to know is just like, John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa. That's the kind of spirit...

Chris Wallace just asked Bachman if she was a flake.. and she made him look like a fool. What a little man. Hey Chris.. put some ice on that!

One might expect to hear the term flake bandied about in a private conservation when talking about another person not present, but it is not a term that often comes up on Sunday morning public affairs talk shows — especially so directly. However, on “Fox News Sunday,” it was a description moderator Chris Wallace asked 2012 Republican presidential candidate Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, who Wallace said has a reputation in Washington of making “questionable statements,” to respond to. “Finally, let’s talk about Michele Bachmann because — and you say — it’s interesting,” Wallace said. “You say that people saw in...

Veterans Affairs It is imperative that America's military men and women receive the support they deserve for the sacrifices they have made. Our members of the Armed Forces have fought to preserve the freedoms we cherish and I believe Congress must be steadfast in honoring our commitment to them. Last year, I supported the largest increase in funding for veterans programs in theVA’s history: over $37 billion for veterans programs. This legislation also adds more than 1,000 new claims adjusters to help ease the backlog of over 400,000 VA benefits claims. Congress must work to alleviate VA bureaucratic procedures, improve...

What is Chris Matthews up to? The MSNBC anchor, who once trashed Michele Bachmann as a "zombie" and a "nutcase," on Tuesday praised the Congresswoman as "poised, informed and serious." Touting Bachmann's performance in Monday's Republican presidential debate, he gushed that the Representative did "great." The Hardball host, who once battled with Bachmann and wondered if she was "hypnotized," hyped that the debate saw "the emergence of a star." He added, "[Bachmann] was, of course, created here. She came off as...poised, informed and serious. Could she be the candidate that Sarah Palin was supposed to be?" In an amusing moment,...

Via the Daily Caller and Politico, if jabs like this are already being thrown before Palin’s even in the race, how brutal will things be in six months when the two of them and Herman Cain are battling for the grassroots vote in Iowa? Good lord. It’s going to be a long, hot, nasty summer, my friends. “Sarah has not been serious over the last couple of years,” Rollins told Brian Kilmeade on his radio show, Kilmeade and friends. “She got the Vice Presidential thing handed to her, she didn’t go to work in the sense of trying to gain...

In this episode of the Conscience of Kansas radio program we talk about the renewal of the Patriot Act and Obama's position on the law in the past. I talk about the GOP's economic plan. Next we talk about the organization Gender Spectrum, the Gender War in our schools and the push for institutionalized gender blending. Next, we talk about the tornados in Joplin Missouri. We invite you to listen and comment on the show!

In this episode of the Conscience of Kansas radio program we talk about the renewal of the Patriot Act and Obama's position on the law in the past. I talk about the GOP's economic plan. Next we talk about the organization Gender Spectrum, the Gender War in our schools and the push for institutionalized gender blending. Next, we talk about the tornados in Joplin Missouri. We invite you to listen and comment on the show!

Herman Cain and Michele Bachman appear to be the big winners following the decisions by Mike Huckabee and Donald Trump to not enter the presidential race, according to a new poll of Iowa conservatives. Meanwhile, last week’s presidential announcements by Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich did not resonate with Iowa conservatives.

[SNIP] George Stephanopoulos: Well, I have the president’s certificate right here. It’s certified, it’s got a certification number. It’s got the registrar of the state signed. It’s got a seal on it. And it says “this copy serves as prima facie evidence of the fact of birth in any court proceeding.” Bachmann: Well, then that should settle it. Stephanopoulos: So it’s over? Bachmann: That’s what should settle it. I take the president at his word and I think– again I would have no problem and apparently the president wouldn’t, either. Introduce that, we’re done. Move on.

Right now, Michele Bachmann is my Candidate, I hope she runs, I think she's smart, a true Tea Party Candidate, and she has integrity. I will vote for Sarah too, but I think Michele is more electable.

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann told a South Carolina tax day tea party rally that President Barack Obama is Wall Street's best friend. Bachmann later told reporters in Columbia that she can't wait to take him on even though she's not ready to announce plans to seek the GOP presidential nomination until around June. Bachmann also said she would vote against raising the nation's debt ceiling, saying it would not bring the disruption people fear.

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., says President Obama has neglected to clearly demonstrate he's eligible to hold his office, and says it would be simple for him to do so. "It's an interesting issue that has gone on for so long and it's one that the president could have solved very early on," Bachmann told Fox News host Judge Jeanine Pirro last night. "All he had to do is just answer some questions and show his [long-form birth] document and then have people do an attestation that this in fact is a legal document and it's over, it's done. And...

This is a video of Michelle Bachman as she spoke at the Teaa Party meet and Greet in Bluffton, South Carolina, April 16, 2011.

Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., raised a combined total of $2.2 million in the first quarter of 2011, outgaining presumed presidential contender Mitt Romney who raised $1.9 million over the same period. Bachmann's political action committee, MichelePAC, raised $500,000 while her Congressional reelection fund took in $1.7 million. The funds raised for her Congressional reelection could be transferred to any federal campaign, including one for president. Bachmann is a formidable fundraiser. The Washington Post recently ranked her the top fundraiser in the House during the 2009-2010 election cycle. This latest fundraising haul, coupled with her frequent visits to Iowa and New...

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Caller, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, Minnesota Republican, ripped detractors of her potential presidential bid saying her decision on whether to run, coming “early summer,” is a “serious” one. “This isn’t a game for me – this is a very serious decision, a momentous decision and I’m not making a rash decision,” Bachmann said. “I’m working with my advisers and my family. This is a very prudent, thoughtful, deliberate decision and a lot is going into this.” Bachmann said what sets her apart from other potential candidates is that she’s got a “spine made out...

Gallup has been measuring the "positive intensity" that Republicans and Republican-leaning independents feel for the presidential hopefuls. "Positive intensity" is calculated based on the difference between the potential candidates' strongly favorable and strongly unfavorable ratings among those familiar with them. The most notable finding of their latest survey? Underdog Herman Cain, included in the poll for the first time, actually has a pretty passionate following. Here are the 2012ers with the highest "positive intensity" scores. Mike Huckabee: 26 positive intensity score Michele Bachmann: 20 positive intensity score Mitt Romney: 20 Herman Cain: 20 Sarah Palin: 18 Tim Pawlenty: 16 Mitch...

DES MOINES, Iowa — Michele Bachmann served up red meat to the crowd at the Iowa conservative principles conference Saturday, slamming President Barack Obama as a Jimmy Carter retread, dissing the Mitch Daniels "truce" call for social issues, and saying she wants a "waiver" from the last two years of White House leadership. Talking loudly and waving her hands, a pumped Bachmann used a slide presentation of various numbers — the national debt, the cost of a gallon of gas two years ago the day before Obama took office, the corporate tax rate — to make her points and pull...

This is a video of a teleconference of Michelle Bachman at the Baxter Center in Rock Hill, South Carolina, Feb 18. She was supposed to appear in person, but she stayed in DC to finish voting last Friday. The video is over 1 hour long.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) broke unexpected ground this week, presenting a budget plan that included freezing Veterans Affairs health care spending and cutting veterans' disability benefits considerably. To put it mildly, the Bachmann proposal has not gone over well among groups representing the needs and interests of veterans.

(CNN)-Republican Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann made political waves in Iowa with a visit to the capital city Friday, raising speculation of a possible presidential run in 2012. "I am very encouraged by what I heard and the level of support that I saw today," Bachmann told the Des Moines Register. The tea party favorite sounded much like a presidential candidate while addressing the Iowans for Tax Relief group Friday night. "It is not too late to change course and save this great nation. I believe we can preserve this exceptional nation-this land of promise–for our children and grandchildren, she said....

At the link 1:50

When he (Cantor) became minority whip last year, the office's personnel expenses went up by at least 16 percent... Firebrand Republican Michele Bachmann of Minnesota has for months pushed legislation to freeze what she calls "unconscionable" federal salaries. Meanwhile, her own payroll jumped 16 percent between 2007, when she came to Congress, and 2009..... — Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who has long criticized federal pay, has overseen an average jump of 8 percent per year in his office employee costs between 2006, his first full year in the Senate, and 2009.

WASHINGTON — Even from thousands of miles away, through a computer screen, over Skype, and into a packed room in Fresno, Calif., Representative Michele Bachmann knows how to ignite a crowd. Leading up to the health care vote this year, Ms. Bachmann, Republican of Minnesota, would head to a conference room in the National Republican Campaign Committee’s headquarters and hold Skype rallies, using the Internet video service to address audiences around the country. Staff members walking by could hear the cheering crowds, roaring so loud they reverberated through the glass wall and out into the committee’s hallway. Such is the...

More polling news from the Tancredo campaign: Another poll has been released and the news just keeps getting better. This time the poll comes from the left-leaning Public Policy Institute Poll and it has us within 3% points of Hickenlooper: 47% to 44% with Maes dropping to an all-time low of 5%. This is within the margin of error — and the sponsor of the poll went on radio and said this race could be a “major upset.” We plan on making those words come true. The other good news is that the momentum is all ours — we are...

Tea Party-backed Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-MN, raised an extraordinary $5.4 million in the third quarter, possibly smashing a congressional fundraising record for a three-month period while pushing her total fundraising haul for this election cycle to almost $10 million. Although Federal Election Commission financial disclosure reports are not due until October 15, Bachmann press secretary Sergio Gor confirmed to ABC News late Tuesday evening that Bachmann raked in the incredible loot in the months of July, August and September. Gor said he expected Bachmann to report that she has about $3.4 million cash-on-hand in her campaign war chest.

Embracing her strong pro-gun stance, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann fired off a few rounds from an M4 carbine Thursday morning, according to employees of a local ammunition manufacturer in her district. The pro-Second Amendment conservative and rising Tea Party movement icon made the final public campaign stop of her two-day bus tour at Federal Ammunition ATK in Anoka, Minnesota. Photography and videotaping were not allowed. Employees of ATK who were in attendance told CNN about the visit before the campaign ushered them away saying details for the press would be provided by the campaign. Two employees said Bachmann fired off...

There are "movement conservatives," and there are politicians who change their stripes for every occasion. Right now, the conservative movement is getting rolled by the latter. Let us remember another day. Health care was all the rage (at least in the press), and leading "conservatives" were leading the third way. Newt Gingrich was working with Hillary Clinton on a more gradual route to universal health care, according to the New York Times and other sources. "Conservative" Mitt Romney was building the Massachusetts universal health care along "business" principles fresh from saving the Olympics. Now what? Well, Obama, the Tea Party,...

Conservative women around the country have always and WILL always be demonized by liberals– men and women alike. Conservative women in politics have never felt the need to burn their bras, have full blown mustaches, abort their children, flaunt hairy armpits and makeup-free faces to feel that they can be on equal footing with men- and for this they are hated. There is nothing worse to a liberal, most especially a liberal woman, than a beautiful, strong AND conservative woman speaking out loudly and boldly about the issues… and doing it with their good-looking husbands by their sides, not as...