Michele Bachmann RSS Articles

Bachmann Meets with Woodbury Constituents

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Today, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (MN-06) spoke with local officials and businesses in Woodbury, Minn. The primary purpose of the meetings was to hear the concerns, feedback and ideas of her constituents.

Bachmann met with Washington County Commissioners Gary Kriesel and Lisa Weik, bank officials at the North American Banking Company and medical device developers at Harvey Vogel Manufacturing Company.

"Today's meetings in Woodbury were incredibly insightful," said Bachmann. "I value the candid information I heard, with the most common comment being that of 'uncertainty' out of Washington. These meetings only helped to confirm the need for me to continue my fight in Washington against needless government regulation, tax disparities and overreach on health care."

Photos: Bachmann with Washington County Commissioners, Bachmann at Northern American Banking Company and Bachmann at Harvey Vogel Manufacturing Company.

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Sixth District Students Make a Difference in Veterans' Lives

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT

(Waite Park, Minn.) Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (MN-06) is happy to announce her office’s participation in the “Valentine for Veteran” project. Each year, elementary schools within the sixth district encourage their students to make handmade valentines for the veterans within the district. The schools then send their Valentines to Congresswoman Bachmann’s office for delivery to the St. Cloud VA just before Valentine’s Day. This year’s delivery will take place this Friday, February 10th.

“Americans across the country love our veterans. After all, it was due to their service that this country has remained safe and free for so long,” Congresswoman Bachmann said. “I am so thankful to each of our area’s schoolchildren for taking the time to make these precious valentines for our veterans. I know each and every veteran will be encouraged by these expressions of love during Valentine’s Day.”

Area Schools that participated in this year’s project include Mississippi Heights Elementary School in Sauk Rapids, Minn.; Oak Ridge Elementary in Sartell, Minn.; Rogers Elementary in Rogers, Minn.; Franklin Elementary in Anoka, Minn.; and Rum River Elementary in Andover, Minn.

To view picture of Congresswoman Bachmann reviewing the Valentines made by Sixth District schoolchildren, click here.

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The Hill: Mandate forcing people to opt out, disregard the law

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT

The more we learn about ObamaCare, the more threatening we find it. We really did have to pass the law to “find out what is in it.” We are now learning that at least an estimated 23 million Americans will remain uninsured in this “universal” coverage law. We also are witnessing healthcare costs rising faster than they did prior to the law’s passage. Through ObamaCare, individuals and employers are poised to become a nation of lawbreakers.

First, consider the effect of ObamaCare on healthcare costs to individuals. In 2010, the year that ObamaCare passed, the average annual family premium for employer-sponsored health insurance was $13,770. The following year, in 2011, as ObamaCare began to be implemented, healthcare costs rose $1,300 a year — a 9 percent increase. But unfortunately, this trend continues. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that by 2016, when ObamaCare is fully implemented, the average American family will pay $20,000 a year for their health insurance. For many Americans, this is far greater than their rent or annual mortgage payments. I remember when President Obama promised that the average family would save $2,500 a year on health insurance by this year, 2012. What happened to that promise?

With the cost of health insurance rising so fast, what’s to prevent millions of Americans from saying, “Why should I pay for health insurance when I can just pay a fine and buy coverage only if I need it? If someone in my family gets sick, we’ll just buy a policy because health insurance companies are required by law to sell us a policy — even if we wait until we get sick to buy it. After all, under ObamaCare, I can’t be turned down and my premium cannot be any higher than it would have been had I paid for insurance all along.”

Individuals are not the only ones enticed to break the law under ObamaCare. Studies show that employers are already signaling their intention to violate federal law under the healthcare mandate. Business owners across the country with more than 50 employees (the designated number in ObamaCare that requires an employer to provide healthcare) have an incentive to pay ObamaCare’s fine of $2,000 to $3,000 per employee rather than pay for government-mandated health insurance, which could cost several times that amount. Furthermore, ObamaCare requires the employer to collect invasive information from the employee about their household income when determining the employee’s share of their health insurance premium. A survey by McKinsey and Co. found that 50 percent of employers say they will definitely or probably pursue alternatives to their current health insurance plan, suggesting that 78 million Americans could lose their employer health coverage.

Incentives for individuals and employers to break the law aside, ObamaCare already has begun its destruction of the most sought-after healthcare system in the world. Here’s just a few examples: Seniors are finding it more and more difficult to find a physician, Medicare is facing $500 billion in cuts, states are facing up to $115 billion in additional costs over the next 10 years to implement ObamaCare and up to 40 percent of physicians are seriously considering leaving medicine rather than practicing under government’s strict rules. And just now we’re finding the Obama administration trying to force religious institutions to pay for contraceptives and drugs that cause early abortions, even if it violates their conscience.

But the deluge is yet to come. ObamaCare sets us up to become a nation of lawbreakers as individuals, and employers attempt to protect themselves from its crushing cost and endless regulation. Unless the law is ruled unconstitutional or repealed in its entirety, it will lay waste to the hope of economic recovery and preservation of our fine healthcare system. The sickest, poorest and oldest will be abandoned. In the end, the very moral fiber of our nation will be violated as we turn from being a civil society to one in which the rule of law is no longer the backbone of our democratic nation.

Our Constitution is not Irrelevant, Justice Ginsburg

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT

If you walk by the National Archives on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C. you will most likely see a line of people waiting to get just a glimpse of our Declaration of Independence and Constitution. These two aged documents are browned with time and sealed under layers of a secure glass enclosure in the domed lobby of the Archives. But they still manage to impress their visitors. The inked words of the Constitution, many of them carefully penned by Gouverneur Morris over 200 years ago, are now barely visible. While some foreign visitors may struggle to make them out, we Americans know them by heart. “We the people in order to form a more perfect union…” the Constitution starts, and what follows is one of the most awe inspiring and heartfelt treatises to freedom in the history of man. After all, this one document founded the most successful country the world has ever known.

Unfortunately, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg doesn’t believe in the importance of the U.S. Constitution. Ironically, though her job is to “support the Constitution” (Article 6, U.S. Constitution) she instead did everything but uphold it last Wednesday. During an interview with Egyptian television network Al Hayat in Cairo, she was asked to give her opinion regarding the type of government Egypt should adopt as they try to rebuild their country following the Arab Spring. Her response? “I would not look to the U.S. Constitution, if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012.” Though she extolled certain parts of the U.S. Constitution, she went on to propose Egypt instead use South Africa’s Constitution as a basis for their new government.

I am deeply saddened and disappointed in Justice Ginsburg’s answer. As a Supreme Court Justice who daily delves into the U.S. Constitution looking for answers to the nation’s top cases, I would hope she would have developed a love for this crucial founding document. Yet instead, she implied its irrelevancy! Why would our Constitution not be just as good a foundation for a nation’s government today as it was in 1788?

The answer is that it is, and always will be, an excellent foundation for the government of any nation. It was and still is the clearest legal protection of man’s freedoms on earth. Since our founding, our country’s unparalleled success and majestic display of human freedom has been a beacon of hope to the peoples of other nations. For years, immigrants from other countries have fled their oppressive or failing governments to come to our shores because they too sensed the meaning behind the words of our Constitution. I cannot think of another document I would more highly recommend to a country looking to make a fresh start.

I would ask Justice Ginsburg to rethink her answer and reconsider her position as a “supporter of the Constitution.” Better yet, I would encourage her to consider why people from all around the world line up to see the distinctly American documents of freedom every day at the National Archives. I hope that one day she will come to understand what the patriotic Americans in line at the Archives understand: the protection and freedom the founding documents offered to the American people over 200 years ago is just the sort of protection every country in the world needs.

The President Misses the Budget Deadline….Again

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Today, the first Monday in February, marks the legal deadline for the President to submit a budget for the approaching fiscal year. Since a deadline was first set in 1923, a President has never missed the deadline two years in a row. But President Obama, who missed the deadline in 2009 and 2011, has already said a budget will not be released today.

This means that for three years out of his four-year term, President Obama will have blatantly missed the deadline, leaving the country with no choice but to assume he does not take seriously the need to get our fiscal house in order. President Obama also holds the record for the most numbers of days to pass between deadline and actual submission. In his first year in office, President Obama waited until May 11, or 98 days past the deadline to submit his budget. For comparison, President Bill Clinton waited 66 days and President G.W. Bush waited 63 days, their first years in office.

Sadly, this is not the only deadline the President has missed during his time as the nation’s chief executive. According to House Committee on the Budget:

“The President is required to submit a Midsession Review no later than July 16 each year. The President is required to submit a Financial Report of the U.S. Government no later than December 15. The President is required to submit a plan to shore up Medicare’s finances within 15 days of a funding warning by the Medicare Trustees.

“Not once has President Obama adhered to any of these deadlines:

· The President’s Midsession Review has never been released by July 16;

· The President’s Financial Report of the U.S. Government has never been released by December 15;

· The President has not once responded to the Medicare Trigger.”

This is just one more example revealing that the President is not fulfilling his leadership role in our nation. To read more from the House Committee on the Budget about missed deadlines, click here.

Bachmann Highlights Survey Showing 86% Support for New St. Croix River Crossing

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (MN-06) released the following statement after a survey of St. Croix River Valley residents showed overwhelming local support for the river crossing project she is working on in Congress:

“The survey results released today reinforce what I have been saying for over a decade: the residents of the St. Croix River Valley are ready for a new river crossing. The Stillwater Lift Bridge served its purpose and now it is time for a modern and reliable structure to replace it. We are close to the finish line in Congress, and I am confident that once the legislation is heard in the House of Representatives, we will finally be able to move forward on a new crossing.”

Among other findings, the survey of 400 registered voters in the St. Croix River Valley found 86 percent “support the proposal to build a new four-¬‐lane bridge just south of the city of Stillwater.” An executive summary and statistics of the survey are available at www.stcroixcrossing.org.

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The True State of the Union

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

When the American people bestowed the highest office in the land onto President Barack Obama three years ago, they did so trusting him to follow through on his promise of “hope and change.” He has not kept that promise. The supposed accomplishments the President presented in Tuesday night’s State of the Union only serve to divert America’s attention from the true state of the union. Under three years of an Obama administration, our country is suffering; millions linger without a job, gas prices have nearly doubled, and our national debt is greater than the value of the entire U.S. economy.

Though he tried to do so, President Obama cannot blame the sad reality of our nation’s state on the inaction of Congress or the ineptitude of his Presidential predecessors. After all, it was President Obama, not Congress, who asked for nearly $5 trillion dollars to be added to the national debt. It was President Obama who recently cancelled the Keystone Pipeline project, killing thousands of potential American jobs. Under President Obama the unemployment rate has risen from 6.8% when he was elected to today’s 8.5%, a reality that’s caused many Americans to simply stop looking for work. Unfortunately, the unemployment rate is not the only figure that has seen an upsurge under this Administration – gas prices have nearly doubled from the day the President took office to now. When you compare that to only a 28-cent gas price increase under the last President’s administration, it is truly disheartening.

I agreed with the President when he called for all Americans to reclaim their “American values.” But, contrary to the President’s beliefs, the time-tested values that made America great do not include redistribution of wealth or lack of incentive to prosper. In reality, our country was founded by Americans who believed in values such as hard work and determination. They believed strongly in “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” None of them believed in taking away from their neighbors to achieve their dreams, but instead worked hard to provide for their own families and carve out a home in America for the generations to come.

Yet there is still hope for our nation. There is hope because we are the descendants of these hard working Americans. The same values that inspired them to greatness inspire us today. We don’t need handouts or bailouts, we need incentive and inspiration. As a member of Congress, I will continue to fight everyday to preserve and promote these true American values.

Celebrating National School Choice Week

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

This week marks the second annual National School Choice Week. This observance is a great time to celebrate the opportunities and achievements available through school choice. But if you’re not sure what all the excitement is about, here’s a bit of background on the issue.

Dictionary.com defines school choice as “noun - an educational policy based on vouchers or scholarships, allowing students their choice of private or public school.”

While that’s school choice in a nutshell, this exciting educational policy deserves a bit more explanation. Here’s how Parents for Choice in Education defines school choice:

“School choice can be best defined as empowering parents to select the educational environment they feel is best for their child. In other words, school choice is parental choice.

“Some families are already able to exercise school choice simply because they have the resources to move to the neighborhood of their choice or to pay private school tuition. Families that do not have these same resources can only exercise choice through the use of different school choice tools, such as vouchers and tuition tax-credits.

“The best school choice tools are programs (like vouchers or tuition tax credits) in which education funds follow the child to the school of their parents' choice, whether public or private. Other school choice tools include charter schools, open enrollment, magnet schools, virtual schools (both public and private), privately-funded scholarships, private schools, and home schooling.”

Are you more of a visual person? Try this video from Heritage: http://www.heritage.org/multimedia/video/2011/07/what-is-school-choice.

So there’s the background on school choice. Now, here is why I’m excited about school choice – because, these facts speak for themselves:

School choice results in increased competition. Increased competition results in higher standards for everyone. From the Brookings Institute: “a number of studies indicate that public schools tend to improve when they are exposed to choice and competition.”

School choice is supported by a wide swath of people. As reported by the Cato Institute: “An Education Next/Harvard PEPG survey found that even 53 percent of current and former public school employees support education tax credits and only 25 percent oppose them. And support for choice, especially education tax credits, is becoming increasingly bipartisan. Florida's donation tax-credit program became law in 2001 with the vote of a single Democratic legislator. Last year, a third of statehouse Democrats, half the black caucus and the entire Hispanic caucus voted to expand that program.”

School choice saves your tax dollars. The Common Wealth Foundation provides savings data in the millions for Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona and Florida because of changes in school choice policy.

Parents and students who have participated in school choice on some level are routinely happy to explain their experience and what worked for them. I had my own involvement in school choice, when, in 1993, I joined local parents and educators in my hometown to start the nation’s first K-12 charter school. Still operating today, I saw firsthand how this school is a benefit to students who needed something other than the local public school.

Do you have a school choice story? Share your experience with your friends, family and neighbors. I strongly believe during next year’s National School Choice Week, we’ll have even more to celebrate as people continue to learn about the great opportunities available through school choice.

Bachmann Reacts to State of the Union

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Tonight, after President Barack Obama delivered the annual State of the Union address, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (MN-06) released the following response:

“President Obama’s State of the Union rhetoric called for ‘fairness’ but the reality is that this President is anything but fair. The President presented ideas tonight that demonstrate his willingness to pick winners and losers. First, the President introduced a new tax loophole for a certain sector of manufacturers. He believes that high-tech manufacturers should get double the tax break that other manufacturers receive. This is wrong. Instead, there should be a level playing field for our manufacturers. In addition, I believe their tax rates must allow them to turn a profit in order to create more jobs.

“The President believes spending taxpayer dollars will be the solution to education costs. In reality, as student aid increases, education costs go up. Furthermore, it is not the federal government’s role to force schools to offer work-study jobs or to control a school’s tuition rates.

“The President’s favoritism continues into his view on energy. Last week we saw the President side with his friends in the environmental lobby by denying the construction of the Keystone Pipeline. Then, while the President highlights massive cuts to the Department of Defense, he also announced that they will be forced to purchase his preferred type of energy – clean energy.

“Furthermore, the President’s speech was riddled with new regulations and new taxes. These regulations and taxes will harm our nation’s small businesses and job creators. The best way to promote job growth is through economic certainty which means cutting regulations and simplifying the tax code.

“These are just a few examples of the President governing with favoritism, not fairness. The President needs to follow the Constitution, given to us by the founders, and its one true fairness guide – equal protection under the law. America was not founded on redistribution of wealth, but on free markets and the idea that everyone is entitled to the fruits of their labors. Furthermore, our true American values are the ones enshrined into the Declaration of Independence: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

“Our country in is dire need of a solution that will help us recover our jobs, our economy and our hope for the future. The true state of the union is such that we simply cannot afford more of the hollow promises that President Obama presented tonight. He called for ‘no bailouts, no handouts, and no copouts,’ but his policies are rooted in these three things. Our country needs better and our country deserves better.”

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"While There is Life, There is Hope"

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

The Roman orator Cicero allegedly once pronounced, “While there is life, there is hope.” Though there is debate over whether or not he uttered that statement, I do agree with its meaning. As the mom of five biological children and 23 foster children, I regularly marvel at the hopefulness each of my beautiful children exude and the boundless potential in each of them. But I’m not being a proud mom about only my children. Hope defines each and every human life around this world. Each of us have unique, God-given lives that not only need to be protected but lived out from conception to natural death.

For the past 39 years, the fight to protect lives has seemed like a uphill battle due to the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. This tragic decision, along with subsequent other similar decisions, promote the idea that the unborn are nothing more than tumors or blobs of tissue that can be discarded. No life should ever be considered “inconvenient.” There are simply too many alternatives to abortion for any child to be considered an unwelcome burden that should be terminated.

Ironically, those who advocate for the life of the unborn have been accused of trying to limit a woman’s choice and somehow harm her life. But truthfully, it is the pro-life movement that is fighting the hardest for the rights of women. The pro-life movement is the only group helping women make a truly informed choice for themselves and their unborn child. After all, if mothers are never told of the facts of their pregnancies or the alternatives to abortion, are they really being offered a choice?

I believe pregnant mothers need all the information made available to them about their unborn child. That is why last fall I introduced the Heartbeat Protection Act, legislation that will require abortion providers to make the heartbeat of the unborn child’s both audible and visible to the mother before they choose whether or not to end their pregnancy. I truly believe that once women witness the lives developing inside of them, they will have all the facts they need to make an truly informed choice.

But that is just the latest legislation I have introduced on behalf of the lives of the unborn. Whether it was through voting down continuing resolutions that included funding for Planned Parenthood or introducing numerous bills such as the Positive Alternatives Act in 2009 which ensured that states had the funds to help pregnant women find abortion alternative services, I have fought to protect America’s unborn. We are, after all, the country that claims everyone should have the “right to life.” I am committed to doing everything in my power to protect that constitutional right for every American.

Due to my pro-life stance and beliefs, I am thrilled to see events across the country drawing thousands of pro-life advocates together today and throughout this past weekend. Together, we solemnly remember the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Though the effects of Roe v. Wade are tragic, the pro-life movement is filled with hope. Through our marches and rallies for life, we are seeing sure success in helping our fellow Americans see life as a gift that needs to be protected and cherished.

The efforts of so many passionate advocates for life inspire me to continue my fight against abortion. Yet in my fight, I cannot help but hope for two results in the pro-life movement. First, I hope that the victims of the pro-choice, abortion agenda will find healing. Second, I pray that our fight for life will serve to ensure future generations are protected. May we all come to understand, as our founders did, that life is a gift that cannot be denied to any human.