MORNING EDITION
Not the president and not even her own party was going to keep Congresswoman Michele Bachmann out of the spotlight for a day. Despite mutterings that the GOP leadership wasn’t too thrilled with her “Tea Party response” to the State of the Union, Bachmann plunged on ahead. Here’s a link to the transcript. There are many delicious moments. For example:
• “Instead of a leaner, smarter government, we bought a bureaucracy that tells us which light bulbs to buy, and which will put 16,500 IRS agents in charge of policing President Obama’s health care bill.”
• And: “We believe in lower taxes, a limited view of government and the exceptionalism of America. And I believe America is the indispensible nation.”
• And: “ObamaCare mandates and penalties will force many job creators to stop offering health insurance altogether, unless yours is one of the more than 222 privileged companies or unions that has received a government waiver.”
On the New York Times “caucus” blog, Jennifer Steinhauer writes: “Ms. Bachmann said Monday that her speech was ‘not a competition’ with Mr. [Paul] Ryan, who is now sandwiched between the President and his own colleague. But the existence of her alternate response, which was not officially sanctioned by Republicans in the House, did not go unnoticed. The Republican majority leader, Eric Cantor, told reporters on Monday: ‘Paul Ryan’s giving the official Republican response. And Michele Bachmann, just as the other 534 members of the House and Senate, are going to have opinions as to the State of the Union.’ “
She goes on to say: “Ms. Bachmann, whose own party has rebuffed her in the House by denying her the committees and leadership positions she has sought, acknowledged on the Bill O’Reilly program Monday night that her response was more or less her own. ‘I am not the official GOP response,’ she said. ‘That will belong to Paul Ryan. I am sure he will do a wonderful job. About a month ago, the Tea Party Express asked if I would speak to their membership about President Obama’s remarks, and I am looking forward to doing that.’ “
FoxNews’ Judson Berger and Chad Pergram cover the Bachmann Tea Party response, writing: “Bachmann’s appearance as the face of the Tea Party also has raised some questions even among Tea Party-backed favorites like Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. Rubio, casting doubt on the need for a similar caucus in the Senate, said he’s concerned politicians in Washington may overwhelm the grassroots movement. ‘My concern is that politicians all of a sudden start co-opting the mantle of Tea Party. If all of a sudden being in the Tea Party is not something that is happening in Main Street, but rather something that is happening in Washington, D.C., the Tea Party all of a sudden becomes some sort of movement run by politicians,’ Rubio told Florida-based blog Shark-tank.net.” Someone should ask Dick Armey and the Koch brothers about the dangers of big-time politics overwhelming the Tea Party.
Dana Milbank in the Washington Post praises both President Obama and Congressman Ryan for maintaining a high tone. Our local representative … eh. “[T]he Minnesota Republican gave her own, unauthorized response to the State of the Union, live from the National Press Club, filmed by Fox News, broadcast live on CNN and telecast by the Tea Party Express. It had all the altitude of a punch to the gut.” Adding: “Two dozen reporters chased her down a hall in the Capitol complex this week, seeking an explanation for the speech. ‘I never took this as a State of the Union response, necessarily,’ she said innocently. The title above the text of her speech her office released Tuesday night: ‘Bachmann’s Response to State of the Union.’ “
Kerth Olbermann may have left the building, but MSNBC’s Chris Matthews can toss a bomb, especially when it comes to Bachmann’s “response.” A Huffington Post story says: “On Tuesday’s ‘Hardball,’ Chris Matthews was so incredulous about Michele Bachmann’s interpretation of American history that he called her a ‘balloon head,’ and he could hardly keep himself from yelling at a co-founder of the Tea Party group which has selected the Republican to give a response to President Obama’s State of the Union address.”
If you missed it, Bachmann was recently fully amok on the history of our founders (you know, those Constitution-y guys), who, among other things, she says “worked tirelessly to end slavery.” With that boggler in mind, “Matthews derided [Sal] Russo and his group for making Bachmann their spokesperson. ‘Why do you put someone like this forward who is a balloon head?’ he said. ‘Who knows no American history? It’s a ridiculous decision you guys have made. Do you know how little this woman knows about our history?’ Russo started to respond, but Matthews interrupted him. ‘Did you just hear that stuff?’ he said. ‘Did you just hear? You want me to play it again? We can rub it in, Sal. It’s horrendous.’ “
That Eden Prairie “busing” issue isn’t getting any quieter. Kelly Smith of the Strib reports on irate parents hiring a nationally prominent desegration lawyer: “From last fall into December, hundreds of Eden Prairie parents protested, petitioned and packed board meetings. They opposed adding fifth- and sixth-grade students next fall into what are now K-4 elementary schools, and redrawing boundary lines to balance school capacity and concentrations of poverty. New boundary lines reduce the gap between the number of low-income students at elementary schools from 33 percent to about 8 percent. Race, district officials said, correlates with socioeconomics in the 9,700-student suburban district.”
The state Senate Education Committee wasted no time pushing through that freeze on school employee salaries. Tim Pugmire at MPR writes: “The Senate education committee advanced the measure today on a 9-7 vote. The freeze would impact all employees including bus drivers, custodians, teachers, principals and superintendents. The bill would also eliminate a Jan. 15 deadline for teacher-contract settlements and prohibit school employees from striking over the wage freeze. Republican Sen. Dave Thompson of Lakeville said his bill would help prevent further cuts and layoffs.” Pugmire adds: “Representatives of the Minnesota School Boards Association and the Minnesota Association of School Administrators testified in favor of the bill.”
Trisha Volpe of KARE-TV is among those following Minnesota adventurer Lonnie Dupre’s attempt at a solo January summit of Mount McKinley. She says: “For more than six days, Dupre was stuck at Denali pass, some 12 hours from McKinley’s summit. He was stranded in brutal conditions which included snow, ice and wind blowing at 100 miles per hour.” And: “To keep out of the elements Dupre made himself a shelter, a cave or trench which he dug right in the snow. It’s about the size of a sleeping bag. After spending so many days there, Dupre is feeling weaker, but remains determined and is taking advantage of better weather Tuesday to move to safer ground before deciding whether to attempt the summit again.” Here is the link to Dupre’s site.
I hope the folks getting heating assistance from the feds won’t be complaining about Big Gummint anytime soon. Kara McGuire of the Strib notes that the state is receiving yet another chunk of dough from D.C.: “The money comes less than two weeks after the state received $56.3 million, bringing the total funds allocated for the current heating season to approximately $150 million in Minnesota and $4.1 billion nationwide. Last year, Minnesota received about $160 million and helped 164,783 households. This is the fourth distribution of funds this heating season; between four and six distributions are typical.”
A review of MB’s speech before BO’s speech?
The Presidents speech probably caused you to fall asleep.
Sorry, he was flat.
Of course, trying to disguise the “tax and spend” agenda through verbal gymnastics is more entertaining than inspiriting.
Michele Bachmann, the “Policy Palin”.
On her big graph, she confuses coincidence with causation because it is clear that the big upswing in unemployment began in the Bush administration.
The thing that caught my attention was the silence at Obama’s mention of a 5 year spending freeze.
I noticed the even deeper silence on Obama’s threat to veto any bill with “earmarks” in it.
Hmmm, this isn’t going to be fun. It really will come down to the details.
Methinks Lambo has long given up on The One.
The agenda now, as evidenced by his rabid attention to Bachmann, is to consistently and continuosly attack this symbol of rationality, and female conservatism, and her growing prospects at the Presidency.
BD, I am starting to wonder if your comments (Bachmann’s “rationality”?) are just snark. Bachmann’s rebuttal proved once again that she is a liar and she is incredibly ignorant. The real story here is that Bachmann is such a nutjob that it is starting to concern other Republicans.
Brian, even as someone with an intense dislike of Bachmann, can we move on? Let’s just assume if her lips are moving, she’s lying.
I don’t mind reporting on issues that generally involve Bachmann, such as a general story on why the media refuses to call her on her misstatements. But continuing to tell us about her fabrications is about as enlightening as a daily reminder that the sun rose.
I’m also growing weary of those here who defend her…continuing to confuse the message and the messenger. But I guess I’d ask, “if your message is so wonderful, you can’t find anyone better to sell it?”
Repeating long debunked lies is rational?
Lying about the unemployment “spike” is rational?
Blaming the FY 2009 deficit on Obama is rational?
“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means”
How does “female conservatism” differ from male conservatism?
Well, Ginny, a female is one of the liberal locksteppers “protected” groups.
So when a female, especially an attractive heterosexual one with strong family values, espouses conservative values, they go completely off the charts.
Don’t even get me started with what happens when faced with a MINORITY female conservative (e.g. Condoleeza Rice).
Hope that helps you, and thanks for taking a minute away from NPR.
If anything, BD’s commentary is even stranger than that of the infamous Mr. Swift. He seems particularly hung up on her level of “attractiveness” and seems to be laboring under the impression that liberals find this character threatening.
I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m going to make the assumption that most of us view her as a moron, and as such, are mostly confused and concerned as to how such an individual becomes one of the most powerful people in the country. And I don’t mean that as a random insult but as a specific critique of her mental acuity. Because seriously, we’re talking about a tax lawyer who spent the better part of the last year confused about the difference between gross and net income. So this line of reasoning seems to reveal her as an incompetent or a liar.
In any case, if BD wants to take up any specific lines of argument – defend her made-up facts, for example – that’s fine, but repeating over and over that ‘liberals are shaking in their boots by virtue of being confronted with an *attractive* female conservative’ is getting boring.
To #5, Jackson — Frankly, I am a bit sheepish about all the Bachmann stuff. But among the ground rules for The Glean are that items be “Minnesota-related”. In view of her extraordinarily high national profile, and as a leader of arguably the most raucous new political movement of the moment she requires near constant coverage. On top of that is the sad fact — as David Brauer notes in his column today — that the local Twin Cities’ “major” press hasn’t exactly worked up a sweat pointing out the outrageous disregard for factual accuracy in her comments. (The Columbia Journalism Review focused its attention on the Strib’s failings in regard to Ms. Bachmann and the truth. Can you imagine what they might have said about the PiPress or any of the so-called TV “news”rooms?)
Good idea? I think Rep. Bachmann should take the test for citizenship to see if she could pass it. (If she fails, can we ship her out of the country?)
So… I can’t help but wonder which of the Koch brothers, Dave or Charlie, called Mickey to ask her to do her “Response to the State of the Union.”
Does she not realize that she’s being used as a pawn in the game being played by the Koch boys, et al, to scare the rest of the Republicans into giving up any concern they EVER had for the well being of the US or its citizens in favor of supporting ONLY the “give the fabulously wealthy ALL the money,” libertarian “John Birch Society” values of their father who founded that warped, twisted organization?
No. Of course not. She’s not bright enough to know that she’s a “tool” and what a useful tool she is.
As to freezing those massive teacher’s salaries? How about we make that contingent on freezing CEO salaries and perks for the same period and, while we’re at it, let’s make sure those CEOs are paying the same percentage of the proceeds of their work in taxes as the average teacher pays. That alone, would solve a lot of the state’s deficit problem.
After all, it’s not the massive teacher salaries that are destroying Minnesota businesses and the Minnesota economy. It’s the fact that far too few people have all the money and are not doing anything to circulate that money in the state economy, while those who would circulate that money (by spending it) have, over the past thirty years, been proportionately receiving a smaller and smaller and smaller portion of the profit their labors produce.
The biggest problem in our economy now is that we have so little demand for goods and services because so few people have money to spend. Our economy will never be what it was if we keep destroying the middle class (such as teachers) in order that we can give more money to the fabulously wealthy and let them keep more of it by not expecting those who can afford it most easily and painlessly to contribute, out of their excess, to “promote the general welfare.”
Someone should inform Marco Rubio that the LAST thing the Tea Party is is a groundswell of independent thought and anger and organization to foster “people power.”
The Koch Brothers (Minnesota connection) are pretty much the top funders of the propaganda effort designed to create wide-spread anger against any public policy that would benefit ordinary people instead of the rich.
We then saw those who were taught to oppose the health care reform law (some carrying guns) at events where they could protest “death panels” and “gov’mint takeover of health care” and “gov’mint bureaucrats deciding what care you get” AD NAUSEUM, and to decry progressive taxation as Robin-Hood-like “theft” of their hard-earned money in order to give it to those who have done nothing to earn it.
Many supposedly intelligent folks like Rubio fell for this propaganda whole. And, with the help of big money, got themselves elected to the US Congress, where Bachmann organized them into a separate caucus. Fighting her ever-present propadanda, and constantly repeated lies, is an appropriate task for MinnPost and all other local media.