MIchele Bachmann Dumped... and in Debt

Devin Henry at MInnPost: Michele Bachmann's presidential campaign is more than $1 million in debt, according to a Federal Election Commission filing. Bad news for her congressional campaign: Contributions and debt are transferable between presidential and congressional campaigns, meaning Bachmann will start her re-election bid nearly $450,000 in the red. All is not lost. Bradlee Dean gave an interview last week in which he mentioned Bachmann in a sort of nice way: Last time Bradlee mentioned Bachmann, he said "Lady, you stink!". UPDATE (by Eva): ABC Newspapers has a LTE defending Bradlee and Jake: Playing ‘hate speech’ card To the Editor: The “hate speech” card is being played once again. This time it is Katrina Plotz using it against Jake MacAulay in her Dec. 30 letter “Spreading hate.” This comes as no surprise since Jake and Bradlee (known as the Sons of Liberty – see their website) espouse a biblical view of homosexuality that honors God’s Word. They would rather be biblically correct than politically correct – even if it means being called homophobic and hateful. I know Jake and Bradlee and there is no hate in their hearts for homosexuals. They know that God loves the homosexual just as He loves them. Ms. Plotz is conflating disagreement with homosexual behavior with “hate.” Jake and Bradlee have been called hate mongers and bigots simply because they stand by the Bible’s boundaries for healthy sexual behavior – boundaries that are constantly being validated by medical data. Doctors recognize that homosexuals have more depression, more illness, shorter life spans and more suicides. Please write letters in response to this. Bradlee and Jake call for the criminalization of gay people. They go way beyond "disagreeing with homosexual behavior."

Michele Bachmann BS on Her New Congressional Campaign Website

The home page shows an image of self-described Iowan Michele Bachmann superimposed on a image of the Stillwater lift bridge, the bridge she has trash-talked to support the megabucks boondoggle replacement. The "About Michele" page is a real hoot - who doesn't know about the real Michele Bachmann by now? True to form, "About Michele" tells a bunch of whoppers and leaves a lot out about the 6th Congressional District representative like how she spent most of last year in Iowa campaigning for POTUS and ending up getting dumped. Here's a few lies: Bachmann developed a reputation as a “principled reformer” who stays true to her conservative beliefs while pushing for real reform of the broken ways of Washington. Really? Only 5% of caucus-goers in Iowa believed that one. Bachmann spent most of last year on the campaign trail instead of pushing reform or fixing anything in D.C.. Prior to serving in the U.S. Congress, Bachmann served in the Minnesota State Senate. She was elected to the Minnesota State Senate in 2000 where she championed the Taxpayers Bill of Rights. Wrong. We wrote about Bachmann's record in the Minnesota Legislature in our book "The Madness of Michele Bachmann" Bachmann turned down a chance to have TABOR in a committee hearing - see October 24, 2005 DB post titled "Bachmann Refuses Hearings on TABOR". The post includes this letter (click to make it bigger): And, prior to that, Bachmann spent five years as a federal tax litigation attorney, working on hundreds of civil and criminal cases. Apparently, the word "working" has a different meaning to Michele Bachmann. For years, Dump Bachmann was unable to find more than one case that Bachmann brought to trial. During the campaign, national reporters investigated that claim and interviewed co-workers and reported Bachmann had a lackluster career at the IRS, spending most of her time on maternity leave. Bachmann also claimed during the campaign she was " kind of secret anti-tax mole whose mission was to get to know the place in order to better undermine it later". Congresswoman Bachmann currently sits on the Financial Services Committee. This committee is tasked with the oversight of numerous financial sectors including housing, real estate and banking. True, but that statement does not say what she actually did on the Financial Services Committee last year - little to nothing. Bachmann and her husband, Marcus, live in Stillwater... Wrong, not Stillwater. Bachmann lives in a $1.27 million McMansion on the 18th hole of Stoneridge Golf Course in West Lakeland Township. ... the Bachmann BS goes on and on and will likely continue for the rest of the campaign. The local media will continue to publish puff pieces about Bachmann and Bachmann will continue to refuse to speak to reporters who may ask tough questions. So, it's very likely in spite of the dumping she got from Republican voters in Iowa, she will have no trouble keeping her no-show job in Congress (for more reasons why Bachmann will likely get re-elected, see this Aaron Klemz post at The Cucking Stool). .... but, there is a fly in Michele Bachmann's ointment to prevail in 2012, and his name is Frank Vennes who is scheduled to go on trial in May for fraud and money laundering charges related to his role as the financier of Tom Petters multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme. As I have said before, Bachmann's letter in support for a pardon for convicted felon Frank Vennes could spell big trouble for her. In her letter, Bachmann mentions that she knows "from personal experience" about how Frank used his "business position" to help Christian charities. Bachmann's personal experience may be called upon during the trial. Bachmann could be called by the defense as a character witness. Bachmann has two very bad choices if she is called to testify; she can testify under oath that her letter was bullshit, but that letter was addressed to an assistant U.S. Attorney and lying to a Federal law enforcement official is a felony. Bachmann could claim that she really meant what she wrote and Vennes was and still is a stand-up guy, but there is already sufficient evidence that implicates Vennes in the financing of Tom Petters Ponzi scheme. All of the money Vennes donated was dirty and as we reported back in December, a bankruptcy trustee in Florida is clawing it back including money donated to Bachmann's campaign. Another interesting part of the Vennes case is how important it was for Vennes that his felony record be erased so he could take a more prominent role in funneling hundreds of millions of dollars to Tom Petters' totally fraudulent scheme. This effort seems to have included donating boatloads of money to politicians like Bachmann. Frank Vennes was not a constituent of Bachmann. Reporters need to ask her if there was a quid pro quo - cash for a letter of support for a pardon. If there was a quid pro quo, Bachmann could be considered at least, an unwitting accomplice in a scheme to defraud even more investors of millions of dollars - for more about the campaign to win a pardon for Vennes read Karl Bremer's three-part series on the effort to win a pardon for Frank Vennes including a timeline of donations and events relating to the Vennes request for a pardon Parts One, Two & Three]. Keep up with the pre-trial motions, clawbacks and other info at my Vennes Info blog. Here's a couple of letters from Vennes from 2002 that describe his role shoveling hundreds of dollars to Tom Petters - click links to make them bigger (and click again on the letter to make it bigger): 2002 Letter from Frank Vennes to Tom Petters: 2002 letter to Palm Beach Finance partners:

Co-Author of "Madness of Michele Bachmann" Karl Bremer Reaches Settlement With The New Republic

Mary Divine at the PiPress: A case involving Stillwater Township writer and photographer Karl Bremer, who in November sued the New Republic magazine for unfair competition, was settled Thursday just before a scheduled hearing in Washington County Conciliation Court. The case was resolved "to the mutual satisfaction of both parties," Bremer said. He said he could not disclose any details of the settlement. Read the whole article.

Does Michele Bachmann Still Pray for "Ministry" That Justifies "Force" to Stop Abortion?

UPDATE: The AP is reporting that Bachmann will run again for her no-show job (The Hill says she is backtracking). Will the local media allow her to campaign without asking her about her support for Bradlee Dean and Jake and other controversial subjects? Read on... Bradllee Dean's sidekick recently tweeted this "Because I believe that abortion is murder, I also believe that force is justified in an attempt to stop it. Eric Rudolph". Here's the embedded tweet: Because I believe that abortion is murder, I also believe that force is justified in an attempt to stop it.Eric Rudolph — Jake M. MacAulay(@constitutionjm) January 19, 2012 According to the FBI, Eric Rudolph is described as a terrorist who attempted to kill and maim lots of people. This is what Eric Rudolph did: Eric Robert Rudolph was arrested on May 31, 2003 without incident in his hometown of Murphy, NC. He had been on the run from law enforcement officials and on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List for almost five years. Rudolph pled guilty to the bombings at Olympic Park, a gay bar and two abortion clinics - one in Atlanta, GA, and the other in Birmingham, AL - as well as two murders resulting from these bombings. The incidents took place from 1996-1998. The Olympic Park bombing killed a woman and the Birmingham clinic bombing killed an off-duty police officer and seriously injured a nurse. Rudolph is serving life in prison. From an IRS document titled "Suspension of Tax-Exempt Status of Organizations Identified With Terrorism"(PDF): This announcement is a public notice of the suspension under section 501(p) of the Internal Revenue Code of the federal tax exemption of certain organizations that have been designated as supporting or engaging in terrorist activity or supporting terrorism. Contributions made to an organization during the period that the organization’s tax-exempt status is suspended are not deductible for federal tax purposes. Will the IRS continue to grant tax-exempt status to a group that justifies the actions of a convicted terrorist, bomber, cop-killer Eric Rudolph? Michele Bachmann has raised money and prayed for Bradlee and Jake's organization. Reporters need to ask prominent Minnesota Republicans like Michele Bachmann, Tom Emmer if they still support Bradlee & Jake's ministry. Here's Jake interview with Rick Santorum recently:

Poll: Michele Bachmann More Unpopular Than Ever

Public Policy Polling: Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty's Presidential bids appear to have done serious damage to their future political prospects in Minnesota. Bachmann comes home to only a 34% favorability rating, with 57% of voters seeing her negatively. Only 37% of voters statewide think she should run for reelection to her House seat, while 57% believe she should step down. The local mainstream media coverage of Bachmann was weak before she became a presidential candidate. It's possible the negative numbers are the result of Minnesotans learning for the first time about stuff regular Dump Bachmann readers have known for years. Bachmann overreached and dumped herself.

She's Baaaaaaaaaaack... Bachmann Speaks to Rally of Theocrats at the Capitol

It looks like Bachmann is running again for her no-show job. Short WCCO video clip of Bachmann at a theocrat rally in St. Paul: More interesting are the comments at the WCCO web page - a sample: Why is this a news story? Who cares? She should finish out the rest of her term in Congress and retire from public life and further embarrassment. She had her 15 minute+ of notoriety. Ad Nausea………. Enough said……….. I didn’t think she knew were MN was?? I would say who cares, but I guess I took the time to read the story. She’s an embarrassment but her brain washed supporters just love her evangelical tilt. I guess they deserve her because she hasn’t done anything for them…it’s funny when you think about it…… So Marcus & Michelle believe that you can pray away the gay. Does that mean that if we pray hard enough Marcus will go away (and take Michelle with him) Local reporters need to stop following Bachmann around like she is a celebrity. Bachmannn is an embarrassment to this state. They need to report on her record - they can start by reading "The Madness of Michele Bachmann".

Andy Aplikowski from Residual Forces Tells Us Why Michele Bachmann May Have Some Trouble Raising Money for Reelection

Andy also states he thinks Bachmann won't run for reelection. Read his analysis here.

Theocrats Decide on Rick Santorum as Their "Stop Romney" Nominee

Check it out at the New York Times. The story quotes the usual suspects including the FRC's Tony Perkins, who is well known for purchasing David Duke's mailing list. The leading theocrats met in Texas to discuss stopping Romney's campaign and coming to a consensus. The theocrats were concerned about Newt Gingrich's multiple marriages and attacks on Bain Capital. They really don't have anywhere to go, since they will all suck it up and support Mitt Romney in the general anyway as Peter LaBarbera stated in a tweet: .@lloydletta I'd vote for #Romney. But in #gop primary we socialcon Repubs need to find a #pro-life AND pro-freedom-to-oppose-homo'y cand. — Peter LaBarbera (@PeterLaBarbera) December 31, 2011 It would have been funny to get the results of this if Michele Bachmann were still in the race. Her campaign torpedoed even among the leviticus crowd. Cross posted at Lloydletta's Nooz.

Will Bachmann Endorse "Vulture Capitalist" Mitt Romney?

Bachmann may be out of the race for the White House, but she is still a (mostly non-voting) congress member and GOP diva. Are any candidates still in the race asking for her support? If the candidates read our book "The Madness of Michele Bachmann", they'd likely welcome a Bachmann endorsement as they would a bite from a rattlesnake. Mitt Romney is under attack from Newt Gingrich and others for being a "vulture capitalist" as the CEO of Bain Capital. Think Progress has a video up of that criticism: During his tenure, Bain acquired numerous companies, often through debt leveraging, then liquidated a number of them, resulting in the loss of thousands of jobs for American workers while bringing in hundreds of millions in profit for Romney and Bain’s other investors. Bachmann has a much more serious problem - her association with Tom Petters financier Frank Vennes, who could be described as a vampire capitalist - a convicted money launderer indicted for fraud and money laundering in a $3.8 billion Ponzi scheme. Frank Vennes is scheduled to go on trial in May. Read more about Frank Vennes in our book and keep up to date with the Vennes trial news at the Vennes Info blog.

Hilarious Video From Bachmann's Bus Tour for Her Doomed Iowa Campaign

There's a post-mortem of Bachmann's doomed Iowa campaign in the Des Moines Register that leaves out the biggest reasons why Bachmann lost - she's a serial liar, she's a hypocrite and a coward, she's mean and nasty, a warmonger... and just freakin' weird as this recently posted You Tube video shows: And what effect did the ubiquitous, flamboyant Marcus have on the campaign? Still photo from the above video: