Schumacher: cool Michele Bachmann hypocrisy story

Hat tip and big thank you to Lady, who sent this item in without a link, but I found it anyway. Larry Schumacher's blog reports this item about the incredible integrity of Michele, ma belle: Bachmann reads to children Posted 8/7/2009 10:35 AM CDT on sctimes.com U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., will read to a group of children at 3 p.m. Monday at HealthPartners Central Minnesota Clinics in St. Cloud to highlight child literacy. Bachmann is participating in the Reach Out and Read program, a national effort to train doctors and nurses to advise parents on the importance of reading to their children. The program gives books to health providers to give to parents at well-child checkups from six months of age to five years old. It receives federal funding through the Labor/Health and Human Services/Education Appropriations bill (Word .doc), which Bachmann voted against twice in 2007... There is more, not much more, but it's deeply hypocritical on Michele's part and thus worth reading.

Look-- here in Michele Bachmann land, we can't escape this "town hall thuggery" thing.

I want to escape it--but I can't. Bachmann has announced that she is going to hold something like a live town hall meeting, for the first time in years. And the announcement comes at a time when conservative jackasses are hi-jacking town meetings, all around the country. And that "goon squads disrupting live town halls thing" is not Bill's panicky imagination, it's a real national phenomenon that is being reported all over the country. Here are three links to articles that I collected since I posted a headline on this "town hall thuggery report," yesterday. All the links below are to respected local and national political observers, except for the last link to the guy on the Kos. (He's some just some guy on the Kos, but he links to other stuff about punks organizing to disrupt live town hall meetings.): Religious right watch: Health care reform is against God’s design Conservative Christian leaders urge flock to swarm town hall meetings and 'read them the riot act' By Andy Birkey 8/7/09 9:36 AM (Radio personality Jan Markell, Bachmann fan and "it's the end of the world as predicted in the Bible" expert is referenced.) The Town Hall Mob By PAUL KRUGMAN Published: August 6, 2009 ( EXCERPT... (A Norman Rockwell painting...)That’s a far cry from what has been happening at recent town halls, where angry protesters — some of them, with no apparent sense of irony, shouting “This is America!” — have been drowning out, and in some cases threatening, members of Congress trying to talk about health reform...) All Heckfire Breaks Out at Republican Town Hall Meeting by Muskegon Critic Fri Aug 07, 2009 at 10:12:27 AM PDT (This one indicates that people are trying to organize Democrats and progressives around the country to "deal with" the Republican "we'll shout the liberals down at town hall meetings(and hopefully trigger a few fights and police incidents!" strategy. The author also links to some stuff about how some Republican politicians won't *hold* town hall meetings! (Ring a bell? Michele was on the cutting edge of that.) And about how GOP town halls get poisoned with pre-screened questioned designed to make the GOP politician look good. (Again: ring a bell? This stuff rings more bells than Quasimodo.) A commenter whom I respect wrote in to say that the best response to Bachmann nonsense at some future town hall is "laughter." I respectfully disagree. We've always responded to her wacko pronouncements with "laughter," and will continue to do so--but the news reports indicate that that may not be the highest and most useful response to the kind of town meeting response that conservatives are now organizing. I'm posting all this stuff about organized disruption of town hall meeting by conservatives--so that people wishing to attend can come up with a better strategy in response than just trying to "laugh at" the antics of Bachmann and her supporters on the extreme right. People are going to bring video cameras to the alleged Bachmann town hall meeting. That's a good thing. What will they record? I don't expect any disruptions to start from Bachmann's liberal constituents. But we know that conservative lobbies opposed to health care reform are organizing these goon squads to drown out opposition views at town halls. We also know that this is something Bachmann wants to do--stop health care reform, and suppress opposition views.

SF Examiner Comments on the Best of Michele Bachmann

Here: El Tinklenberg's decision to drop out of the Sixth District congressional race prompted this question from Keith Olbermann -- shouldn't Rep. Michele Bachmann's highlight reel of bizarre statements make her practically self-defeating? From Wednesday night's Countdown, the best of Michele Bachmann: Many people have a favorite Michele moment -- her call for a "penetrating expose" by the news media into anti-American activities in Congress, her groping of President Bush after the 2007 State of the Union, her occasional calls for revolution against the government. My favorite Michele Bachmann moment is when she shut down the legislative session in 2004. Please leave your favorite moment in the comments.

At Last! Michele Bachmann to Hold an In Person Town Meeting

Did Michael Brodkorb shame her into it? MN Progressive Project: Breaking News: Bachmann Town Hall Scheduled for August 27th! by: TwoPuttTommy Thu Aug 06, 2009 at 12:29:32 PM CDT Breaking news! I just got off the phone with Rep. Michele Bachmann's Woodbury office; the Town Hall is scheduled for August 27th! I was told while the location and place were not confirmed, the date is, and to keep checking Bachmann's website for details, or call the office - which is 651-731-5400. Hat-tip to both Mark Brunswick at the Strib and Dusty Trice. Stay tuned! From the Strib: While Ellison and McCollum have already held health care town meetings, each member of the Minnesota delegation plans to make health care a topic of discussion over the recess. But only one member, Sixth District Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., has committed to holding a traditional town hall meeting. McCollum said she expects to have more later this month. Dusty Trice reports on Bachmann's offices giving conflicting information: People are getting conflicting information from Congresswoman Bachmann’s office. Some have been told to call the DC office, some are being told that they aren’t aware of any upcoming town hall forums and some are being told that there is a forum tentatively set for August 27th? Keep calling 202-225-2331 or 651-731-5400 or 320-253-5931 until you get a solid answer. I happen to disagree with Bill Prendergast's proposal for an online town meeting. Nothing replaces the face to face interaction - and online meetings can be manipulated in the same way that teletown halls can. Since Michele Bachmann is evidently planning on a town meeting on August 27, I encourage readers to put this on your calendar, and go - even if you have to take time off work in order to do so.

The town hall meetings thing

Michele says that she's going to hold a town hall meeting, some day. I mean, you know, she's hinting that she's going to hold a *real* town hall meeting, where she shows up live and takes unscreened questions from unscreened consitutents. That's news (if it's true; you never know with Michele.) It's news because she hasn't done anything like a real town hall meeting in years. Her most famous live town hall meeting in her district (nicknamed "Bathroomgate") was a public relations disaster for Michele. She ended it early when she started to get critical questions from constituents and called the police in to investigate participants. And ever since then, she's been extremely reluctant to appear before any constituents who might have questions about her judgment, priorities, and performance for her district since taking office. Sure, Minnesota has reported some Bachmann events as "town hall meetings"--but they weren't. (No live answers to live questions to Bachmann, at those events. Plenty of events where Bachmann says she will not be taking any questions. Instead of questions and answers for Bachmann, we get Bachmann or her guests "spouting and speech making"--a one way, non-dialogue between the representative and her constituents.) And Bachmann promotes her pre-screened question telephone sessions as town hall meetings--but they aren't. Bachmann staffers screen the incoming calls so they can decide which questions can be asked. Here's a possible solution: conduct the "town hall meetings" via the internet, with *all* questions (and comments) to the politician involved appearing on the screen--as they are asked, in real time. Yes, even the comments of people who want to heckle the politician should be posted. The people who would read the session--like most of the people who attend live town hall sessions--will be able to distinguish serious questions from heckling designed to disrupt the session. That's very important, that last part. A small group of hecklers can stop a live town hall cold--and it turns out that political players on the right are actually trying to do exactly that, all over the country--organizing small mobs of hecklers to go into town hall meetings and stop them via disruption. (The Nazis used to do the same thing to electoral opponents, in the days before the Reich. The point is to stop the discussion, drown out the opposition so they won't be heard, and discourage citizens from coming to future political events. That's one method to use, if your dream is to end democracy.) You think I'm kidding about the "sponsored heckling mob" stuff? Here's an excerpt from an article by New York Daily News columnist Errol Lewis: Political thuggery is always sickening. What makes the current round especially abhorrent is the fact that some of the mob behavior appears to be the work of corporate lobbying groups that are spending an estimated $1.4 million a day to block (health care) reform. One such group, FreedomWorks, is chaired by former Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey and has a corporate board that includes billionaire Steve Forbes, who was a GOP candidate for President. Bob MacGuffie, a Connecticut-based activist with FreedomWorks, wrote a memo detailing the best ways to disrupt health care town hall meetings. "Artificially Inflate Your Numbers: Spread out in the hall and try to be in the front half," the memo reads. Other pointers include: "Be Disruptive Early And Often." "Try To Rattle Him, Not Have An Intelligent Debate . . . stand up and shout out and sit right back down. Look for these opportunities before he even takes questions." Tactics like that also work to stop *the people in the audience* from asking questions and getting answers. So it is easy to predict a similar "astroturf mob" showing up at some future live question and answer session by Bachmann--"supporting her" by drowning out other citizens and heckling other citizens who want to ask questions. If that's captured live on camera for YouTube--these hecklers and their sponsors feel no shame, that's a record of their success in stopping the political dialogue and turning it into a shouting match. And if the police are called in when a confrontation between citizens and hecklers "gets out of hand"--that's an excuse for Bachmann not to hold any more live town hall meetings, and that's her ideal as an unaccountable elected official. The "live on-line town hall" format is a possible solution. It would enable all constituents to be heard because there could be no "shouting down or drowning out." The politicians could answer the questions they want to answer, and simply ignore those they don't want to answer. (That last part will appeal to Bachmann.) A session would be limited to a pre-announced time period: the politician would agree to answer live on line for say, two hours. The politician signs his or her name to every answer they give, so that it becomes their answer of record. One question or comment allowed per participant, per session. The length of a question limited to say--two hundred words, enough to raise an issue or news development and attach a question at the end. All questions and comments to be directed to the politician. No answers or responses are required to heckling--but keep the heckling up as part of the record of the session. People need to see what elected officials have to deal with, these days. All people wishing to ask questions or make comments have to sign in and supply their verifiable name and address, so that constituents get first priority with their elected official. One question per constiuent, per session. All questions submitted during the two hour time period, whether answered or unanswered, appear in the record of the thread. Keep the record of the session up on line (the questions asked and answered and ignored-and the politician's answers) up on line, so constituents and other interested parties can review the answers and non-answers. I know that there are problems with this format, too. For example, Bachmann supporters could write friendly "astroturf" questions in advance of the on line session and wall paper the session with them. But at least then we'd have tangible and permanent evidence that *that* is how Bachmann conducts "a town hall meeting." And--astroturf or not--all questions would appear, even if Bachmann wouldn't answer them. Deleting unfriendly questions from an on-line live town hall would raise serious freedom of speech concerns and perhaps appropriate legal action directed at politicians and staff members who delete constituent questions. Participants would know if their submitted questions were being deleted (not just ignored.) An American politician's policy of avoiding or suppressing tough questions is disgraceful and yes: un-American. Politicians and citizens are not supposed to simply sit and there and take this. If cranks and big money interests organize like stormtroopers or KKK members--to stop the long and honorable tradition of live questions and answers at town hall meetings--the rest of us aren't supposed to cave in to that. Abandoning the hundreds-of-years-old democratic tradition of town hall meetings to political thuggery, is not an option.

Olbermann's Bachmannalia

Did anyone see the great montage of the Worse of Michele Bachmann on Olbermann tonight? It was just hysterical. UPDATE: Bill adds: Here's the link so you can watch it at the Countdown website. Click on the picture of Bachmann screaming. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#32307302 Great clips, great soundtrack. Contributor MarkH liked "We've Only Just Begun"; my favorite was the use of track by Gnarles Barkley--"Crazy." audiovideo

America's shrinks repudiate gay-to-straight therapy

...which raises the question: how will this affect Michele Bachmann's personal income stream? One of the key influences on Michele's political career has been her husband, Marcus Bachmann. Marcus acted as Michele's political advisor during her first run for Congress and was one of her go-to guys on an issue that launched her national political profile: pernicious and unrepentant gayness. In a City Pages profile of Bachmann that appeared in 2006, the paper reported an account of a Marcus Bachmann presentation at Grace Church in Eden Prairie. Marcus' presentation was entitled "The Truth About The Homosexual Agenda." Marcus argued that homosexuality was "a choice" and introduced the assembled to three former homosexuals who had decided not to make that choice, anymore. This quickly led to speculation that "reparative therapy" (or "de-gaying" patients) was one of the therapeutic treatments offered at Marcus' extensive Christian counseling practice. That's often asserted, but Marcus has never confirmed it. (And Marcus declined to answer City Pages questions about his "Truth About the Homosexual Agenda" seminar.) If you look at Marcus' Bachmann and Associates web page, therapy is offered for many different sorts of problems--but "reparative" therapy for sexual orientation is not listed. Which is just as well, because this week the American Psychological Association declared that mental health professionals should not tell gay clients they can become straight through therapy or other treatments. (We were directed to this article by DB commenter Lady. Thanks, Lady!) Instead (of telling gay clients that they can become straight via therapy), the APA urged therapists to consider multiple options — that could range from celibacy to switching churches — for helping clients whose sexual orientation and religious faith conflict. It's a very interesting article. The report the APA relied on (based on two years of research) concluded that no solid evidence exists that therapists can reliably "de-gay" their patients. It also points out that "some research suggests...efforts to produce change could be harmful, inducing depression and suicidal tendencies." Here's a YouTube video from Ken Avidor of Marcus Bachmann in action, glad-handing supporters, circa 2006.

Strib article on the Sixth District Race

Pat Doyle, sent out to cover the race against Bachmann, comes back with this. Some good background on the upcoming race, some lovely pictures of the candidates. And former candidates. Elwyn Tinklenberg's picture is there, but no picture of Bob Anderson--whose maverick, unendorsed Independence Party candidacy picked up ten per cent of the electorate last time and cost Tinklenberg the race. Doyle reports that the district has "an independent streak" and that former candidate Tinklenberg received the Independence Party's endorsement. But Doyle doesn't report the fact that a maverick candidacy by someone running as "the Independence Party candidate" can keep Bachmann in office for another term, next time around. I don't know if Doyle leaves that out on purpose, or if Doyle just doesn't know, or if the people Doyle interviews are trying to keep Doyle "in the dark" about what's actually going on in the race Doyle's reporting on. But the Strib has got to start reporting what readers and politicians already know about this race, if they want to stay "au courant" with the news. Tonight I'm going to email Pat Doyle Aubrey Immelman's profile of Sixth District voter demographics. This will be an attempt to supply Pat and Strib editors with some much needed information about why Bachmann wins. Apparently nobody else wants to tell the Strib this important news. Here's the part that Doyle and the Strib editors need to learn (by heart): For historical perspective on the strength of the IP in 6th District congressional races, Dan Becker won 7.5 percent of the vote in 2002; John Binkowski gained 7.8 percent in 2006; and in 2008 Bob Anderson got 10% of the vote. The performance of third-party candidates in the 6th appears to be trending upward. Realistically, it’s difficult to see any plausible scenario in which a Democrat beats Bachmann with a third-party name on the ballot. Some Democrats have accused the IP of playing a “spoiler” role in 6th District congressional races, throwing the race to the Republican candidate. However, as long as the IP enjoys major-party status in Minnesota (winning at least 5 percent of the vote in statewide races), it’s easy to get ballot access on the IP line. Thus, it’s simply realistic to assume that someone will file as an IP candidate in the 2010 election, whether he or she has the IP endorsement or not – and prospective Democratic candidates should plan accordingly.

Immelman: the voting patterns in the Sixth District, and why Bachmann gets elected

Aubrey Immelman is a political candidate opposing Michele Bachmann and a regular commenter here. Aubrey is a psychology professor and a member of the International Society of Political Psychology. Immelman's analysis of voting patterns in Bachmann's district is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand why Bachmann gets elected, and for anyone who hopes to see her "dumped" in the next election. When I say "must-read," I mean that candidates, campaign managers, political activists, reporters, editors, political bloggers and voters must read it to understand how congressional elections in the Sixth District work (or don't work.) If you're a voter or a person interested in seeing Bachmann "dumped", reading Immelman's analysis will help you to decide which candidate you'll ultimately support or donate to. If you live outside our district, you'll begin to understand why it's so hard for people in the district to beat an extremist screwball and proven liar. It's not just Immelman's opinions, it's the research that he bases his opinions on. Ignore his findings at your peril. And: it's brief. It packs a lot of hard information into a concise format. Here is a one paragraph excerpt: "The ceiling level of support for a Democratic candidate in terms of party-political affiliation in the 6th District in a best-case scenario is reflected in a SurveyUSA poll conducted October 20-21, 2008 in the immediate aftermath of incumbent U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s October 17 fiasco on MSNBC “Hardball” with Chris Matthews. In that poll, Democratic nominee Elwyn Tinklenberg led Bachmann 47 percent to 44 percent, with 6 percent support for unendorsed Independence Party (IP) candidate Bob Anderson and 2 percent undecided." ...and that's as good as it got for Democrats against Bachmann, in that race. The piece is full of facts like that; facts Bachmann opponents and election reporters need to know, going into the next race. The piece can be read here. It is part one of a two part series by Immelman. The next part will be his analysis of the candidates in the race. (Aubrey has made a professional reputation for himself via his studies of prominent political personalities. It will be interesting to read his observations about Clark, Reed, etc.--especially given the fact that Aubrey himself has been a candidate in this race.) Dave Mindeman of mnpACT! also has an analysis of voting patterns in the Sixth District. I didn't get as much out of it as Immelman's piece because it's mainly about the IP. The "Big E" over at MN Progressive project found Mindeman's analysis "brilliant" and it is interesting. But if you read Dump Bachmann you know that Mindeman is discussing things and making arguments that we've been discussing and making here for years. Interesting stats, though, if you like that sort of thing.

Sifting through press accounts of Tink's departure

...looking for differences in local media's accounts; looking for a reporter with a different angle or a new fact we need to know. Pat Doyle in the Star Tribune, excerpt: ...Tinklenberg said he welcomed the chance of running once more against Republican incumbent Michele Bachmann, but "the path to that campaign is becoming increasingly improbable..." Bill Salisbury in the PiPress fleshes it out a bit: "Maureen Reed has done well, and I suspect that Tarryl will be able to easily raise money," said Bill McCarthy, president of the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation and a DFL activist from Blaine. "So El was in a difficult spot." Moreover, McCarthy, who backed Tinklenberg in 2008, said he had told the candidate that unlike last year, he would not get early labor support this time. He said most unions wouldn't endorse a candidate before the DFL convention next spring. But Monday night, just hours before Tinklenberg's announcement, a large and politically active union, AFSCME Council 5, endorsed Clark. The union represents 43,000 public and nonprofit workers, including 5,000 members in the 6th District. A-ha. The unions used to be Tink's turf. That loss was probably a death blow. But we also have this, from the same story, very important right now: Reed has not agreed to abide by the endorsement. She issued a statement praising Tinklenberg but could not be reached for further comment. Doug Grow, in the MN Post, drops Bachmann's name into a headline to a story about a different congressional race (in order to get me to read it.) But he makes the following observation about the 6th District race: (Maureen)Reed, who ran as an Independence Party candidate for lieutenant governor in 2006, would seem to have an uphill struggle to gain endorsement but might be able to do well in a DFL primary if she can also gain IP endorsement. If Reed was to try that, she'd be trying to do the same thing that Tink did in the last race. The Tink strategy was to get the DFL nod, and a cross-endorsement from the IP. And he got the DFL nod and a cross party endorsement from the IP. Unfortunately, the IP leadership wasn't able to deliver enough voters to the Tinklenberg candidacy and a maverick unendorsed IP candidate took ten per cent of the independent votes in the district. (Despite the opposition of the IP leadership.) Tink lost narrowly despite putting the cross party endorsement deal together. If he'd pulled even three per cent of the independent votes--it would have been a photo-finish with Bachmann. But maybe Reed thinks she can pull off what Tink couldn't pull off. Fox News Channel 12 in Mankato (KEYC): Nothing we haven't heard. T.W. Budig for ECM Newspapers: Long article, lots of quotes from Tink, Reed, Clark and a Republican spokesman. But to me, here's what mattered most: Clark said she would abide by the DFL endorsement. A campaign spokeswoman for Reed did not give a definite answer on whether Reed, who has shown an ability to raise campaign contributions, would abide or not. An Examiner piece praising Tink for his decision. Paul Demko's piece in MN Independent focuses on Clark more than Tink and has this quote from her: “What I keep hearing from people is they’re worried about their jobs, they’re worried about losing their house, they’re worried about escalating health-care costs,” she said. “Those are the issues that aren’t just being addressed right now by our current representation.” "...worried about losing their house..." My mantra, and a potential big tent issue that Tink didn't exploit in the last campaign. The rate of home foreclosures in Bachmann's district has been a disgrace (the highest in MN), and she's done nothing to assuage this very real and chronic problem. It's an issue that every voter in the 6th District can relate to, Dem, Republican, whatever. From a blog for moderates, centrists, and independents--"The Moderate Voice." Writer Jazz Shaw (really, that's the name) opines: Apparently, there were enough Democrats interested in sending Michele a one way ticket back to Crazytown that Tinklenberg didn’t want to be involved in the internecine bloodbath. Okay, that's enough for now. Everybody and his little dog is running a story on this. If you saw an account with an interesting fact or quote that I missed here--please send it in.

Tarryl Clark Statement

From Andrea Mokros (who is, I guess, Senator Clark's "press liason":) Date: Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 3:18 PM Subject: STATEMENT OF SENATOR TARRYL CLARK STATEMENT OF SENATOR TARRYL CLARK Saint Cloud, MN - State Senator Tarryl Clark, candidate for Congress in Minnesota's 6th District, issued the following statement today regarding El Tinklenberg's withdrawl from the 6th District race: "From day one, El and I have shared the common goal of changing the 6th District's representation in Congress. El knows first-hand from his work just how much is at stake for the working families and small businesses across Minnesota. I thank El for his dedication and public service, and know he will continue to be a leader in our community."

Michele Bachmann's Hydrocephalus Hypocrisy

Minn Post: Michele Bachmann supports 'awareness' of hydrocephalus, but not funding needed for research By Karl Bremer | Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2009 Rep. Michele Bachmann has gotten a lot of mileage out of her symbolic congressional legislation to designate September "National Hydrocephalus Awareness Month." However, her enthusiasm seems to stall when it comes to funding research for a cure for this brain disease. The 6th District Minnesota congresswoman has voted against federal research funds for hydrocephalus at every opportunity since she was elected in 2006. Go read the whole thing. Commenters reacted: (#2) On August 4, 2009, Author Editor Richard Schulze says: http://www.calculatedriskblog.com Perhaps the Congresswoman is taking a lesson from one of the previous Republican endeavors. "No Child Left Behind" Wonderful concept, minimal follow through.(funding) Ideology trumps action, wouldn't want to give a little to get a little. How would that look to the base? (#3) On August 4, 2009, Author Editor Howard Miller says: I wonder why Mrs Bachmann can't bring herself to support federal funding if she's such a good advocate for patients suffering from hydrocephalus? She is a public legislator, not a private fund raiser. Great gains have been made through federally-sponsored research in all sorts of sciences; I believe it hypocritical for her to claim to be an advocate, but then stand in the way of more resources to pursue answers to hydrocephalus through publicly funded research in her congressional voting. Rather like family-values Republicans voting to deny extensions on unemployment insurance, which in it's absence will cause hardship and turmoil in families where members have lost work in this recession and can't yet find the next job .... some 4 million unemployed are so affected ... (#4) On August 4, 2009, Author Editor Jim Camery says: Keep after her, Karl. Her shortcomings go way beyond crazy pronouncements and posturing - her votes and actions have real consequences for people. 2010 could be a very good year. (#5) On August 4, 2009, Author Editor Nancy Gertner says: Hydrocephalus is not limited to juveniles. Head injuries can contribute to developing the condition. Many military veterans have sustained head injuries, including young veterans with recent deployments to combat zones where IEDs cause many traumatic brain injuries that sometimes go undiagnosed. Why would Congresswoman Bachmann want to promote awareness and then not fund research for medical conditions that she's so aware of??

When is Michele Bachmann's Town Hall Meeting?

The Tea Baggers site claims there are no meetings scheduled.

Michael Brodkorb speaks out on politicians who won't interact with the public to answer tough questions

Here's a video clip posted to YouTube by Dusty Trice. In the notes attached to his post, Trice points out that Brodkorb's remarks here could well apply to Michele Bachmann: Ouch! I couldn't agree with Brodkorb more, on this one. Especially since I have "participated" in one of Michele Bachmann's famous "Tele-Town Hall meetings," where I spent about an hour on the line and didn't get to ask my "tough question" at all. (And I'm a constituent, remember.) There are lots of Bachmann constituents who write in here and report a similar "Bachmann Tele-Town Hall" experience. In case you didn't know, these "tele-town hall meetings" are not town hall meetings at all. They're more like conservative talk radio, where Bachmann call screeners get to decide "which questions it's okay to ask." The YouTube clip is short--maybe Brodkorb went on to add "unless you're Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, then it's okay to screen out tough questions from constituents." But I doubt he went on to add that. So: since I hardly ever find myself in agreement with Mr. Brodkorb, it's pleasant to find out that we see eye-to-eye on whether or not Michele should run for office.

MPR Polinaut: Tinklenberg drops Bachmann challenge

Posted at 11am. Read it. Now, at Polinaut. http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/polinaut/archive/2009/08/tinklenberg_dro.shtml And post a comment there, too. They usually don't get many comments, at Polinaut. Query: is this good news or bad news? I know it's good news if you're a Tarryl Clark fan. Me: I have mixed feeling about it. Remember that the whole premise of a Tinklenberg candidacy was that he was "less liberal" than most Democrats. This was thought to be an advantage during a run against Bachmann in a congressional district dominated by conservative voters. The idea was that Tinklenberg, a Blue Dog, would run competitively than a more liberal DFL'r. If it's Clark for the DFL--is she too liberal to win this conservative district? If you answer, remember to balance your political idealism with a healthy respect for the numbers of conservative and liberal voters in the district. How about Reed? She has a couple of cards to play. Battle Clark for the DFL nod, or run as an Independent. Who can cut into the 10% of voters that maverick candidate Bob Anderson netted in the last election? Anyone? As for me: I'm grateful to ET for bowing out. I'm taking his stated reasons for doing so at face value: he wants to prevent a deadly fight between Dems next year--something that could only ensure Bachmann's re-election. We might end up with that kind of fight anyway, but at this writing I admire Tinklenberg for refusing to start it.

Bachmann’s farm profits helping pay the mortgage on her million-dollar golf course manor

Profits are up on the Bachmann family farm in Buffalo County, Wisconsin. Michele Bachmann's 2009 Financial Disclosure Statement reported profits of between $15,001-$50,000 from the Bachmann Farm Family Limited Partnership in 2008. Bachmann failed to list the profits from the farm on her 2008 disclosure statement, but in 2007, she reported between $5,001-$15,000 profits in 2006. The Bachmann Farm Family Limited Partnership comprises 949 acres spread out over 36 parcels in Montana Township in west-central Wisconsin's Buffalo County. The Partnership was formed in 2001. The parcels were assessed in 2006 at $335,200 and $10,200, respectively. In 2007, Karl Bremer reported that land owned by the Bachmann Farm Family Limited Partnership had collected at least $127,868 in federal farm subsidies since the partnership was formed in 2001. Federal subsidies for the Bachmann farm averaged about $30,000 between from 2003-2005, the most recent years for which data is available. In addition to her farm income, Bachmann also reported 2008 dividends of between $50,001-$100,000 from Bachmann & Associates Psychotherapy in Lake Elmo, an asset she values at between $100,001-$250,000. She reported no net profits from Bachmann Clinic Properties in Lake Elmo, which presumably house the Bachmann psychotherapy clinic. Bachmann filed her 2008 Financial Disclosure Statement over a month late on June 26. She has yet to file it on time since being elected.

Bachmann: "Obamacare will cost 1 trillion." CBO: "No it won't."

Numbers don't lie, right? But unfortunately, people lie about numbers. Michele Bachmann wrote that Obamacare would cost $1 trillion dollars. Where'd she get that number? She didn't say. Maybe she got it from the Associated Press, who reported the following in an August 3rd story by Tom Raum: ...even the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says that none of the health plans pending on Capitol Hill would control long-term spending, and that ones with the elements Obama wants would add around $1 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years. The problem is that "even the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office" *didn't* say that at all: "(The) CBO found that the House tri-committee bill would increase the federal budget deficit by $239 billion over 10 years -- not $1 trillion. ...that's from this article in MediaMatters, which goes on to explain that this particular falsehood is being spread like a wildfire. And the article names the people and new organizations that are spreading a phony story about the CBO estimate: "The Associated Press joins New York Times, Fox News Sunday, CNBC's Bartiromo, Fox News' Rove in advancing cost estimate falsehood." And Michele Bachmann joins those guys, spreading the cost estimate falsehood. The same MediaMatters article links to the actual CBO cost estimate, released on July 17. If you want to read what the CBO actually said, not what Bachmann and company pretend that they said. And the Pioneer Press, who printed Michele's trillion dollar falsehood? It looks as though they don't fact check this trillion dollar stuff; they just print it. Her word's good enough for them.

Human interest story, here.

Here's a story in the Strib that commenter Lady directed us to. It's about this woman who runs a bakery with 65 employees, in St. Cloud (Bachmann's district.) She's a person of faith. She joined about five hundred other faith-based activists to go and push health care reform to Minnesota members of Congress, in D.C. But guess what happens at the end of the story? The responses she gets from Minnesota legislators are "non-committal," including the response from the representative for her district--Michele Bachmann, who sells herself to the public as a "faith-based" legislator. The part about Bachmann is at the very end of the story, and it's not much--because Bachmann apparently did not have much to say to these Catholics, Lutherans, etc. But the story is a very interesting read, anyway. And another interesting thing *about* the story--is that this article about Christian efforts to get MN politicians to support real health care reform appeared in the "Faith and Values" section of the Star Tribune. And it was supplied to the Strib by a writer for "the Religion News Service," not a Strib staff reporter. So a news reporting service that covers faith and values spotted a grassroots Christian attempt at supporting national health care reform as a "faith issue." The five hundred people of faith also believe that supporting national health care for all Americans is a "faith issue." Does Michele Bachmann think that making sure all Americans have affordable health care is a "faith issue?" All is it says in the article is that her response was "non-committal." We do know that she supports the private sector health insurers, and takes quite a bit of dough from them, despite the fact that tens of millions of Americans have no health care plan when health care is left to these private sector insurers. And we do know that the private sector health insurers have spent over a half-billion dollars during the past decade, just for lobbying Congress. And it is likely that that half-billion of profit they spent on lobbying Congress, might have been put to better use subsidizing preventive health care for Americans who've lost their health care plans during the various economic downturns. But if the private sector health care insurers had spent that half-billion on doing that, politicians like Bachmann would not have received the special interest money that makes their campaigns "go." Question: how Jesus have spent the half-billion? On lobbying Congress to prevent health care reform, or on the preventive health care for American families that lost their health care plans during the economic downturn?

Why is Michele Bachmann Taking an August Junket to Israel?

She is on Financial Services, not Foreign Relations. Minnesota Raindog comments on DU: Michele Bachmann is going to Israel--again. "U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (D-MN6). Bachmann will be making the most of her August with a variety of appearances. She'll begin the recess with a trip to Israel with about 20 other members of Congress." Presumably, some Jewish lobby group is paying her way like her first two trips and also paying for hubby Marcus to tag along. Did the voters of the 6th CD send Michele to Washington to be Israel's BFF? How do her annual trips to Israel with her husband, paid for by Jewish lobby groups, help the 6th CD? From Politics in Minnesota: Back in Minnesota, she has a series of appearances scheduled in her district. There'll be meetings with constituents, a town hall on health care and speeches. Bachmann also is planning a women's forum on Social Security in St. Cloud, the second such event in her district this year. Is she going to publicize her town hall time and place? Will the Town Hall allow people to ask her questions? Perhaps constituents who live in the district, might want to call Michele Bachmann's office to ask for time and place for the health care "town meeting". Will Bachmann's meeting on social security let constituents know her political position on the matter?

Strib: Bachmann among top recipients of $$$ from insurers against health care reform

From a Star Tribune report by Pat Doyle: As the nation faces a political showdown over health insurance reform, insurers worried that an overhaul could hurt their bottom line are funneling a wave of cash to members of Congress. That includes Minnesota, where Republicans are the biggest beneficiaries of the industry's largesse. Sixth District Rep. Michele Bachmann, an outspoken foe of a government insurance option, is among the top recipients this year in the entire U.S. House... ...Health and accident insurers and HMOs have spent more than $40 million on current members of Congress over the past 10 years, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which analyzed Federal Election Commission data. They've also spent an additional half-billion dollars lobbying during the decade. A "half-billion" dollars on LOBBYING? Doyle points out that these private sector health insurers are scared that reforms proposed by President Obama and the Dems would place them in competition with the public option "and even drive some out of business." That's undoubtedly true. Some would be driven out of business. And no one would ever miss the ones that provide less and worse health care than government reform would provide. But--despite all the GOP talking points to the contrary--others would continue in business, providing a private sector option to Americans who want to opt out of the "public option." The public option would not kill off private sector health care; it would remain available to those of you who are sitting on oodles of dough. Those of you who have that kind of wealth can afford to stick with private insurers who are currently making so much out of us that they have a half-billion in spare cash--just for LOBBYING. Speaking of oodles of dough--look who's talking about "freedom" and "the virtues of the private sector" while she's raking in the big bucks from one of the biggest monied private sector interests in the country--in return for parroting their line. If she really believed that the private sector could out-perform a public health care option, she'd welcome "competition" from the federal government. The private sector health insurers who are paying her *don't* want that competition. They've seen Medicare in action, and so has the public, and the public has decided that Medicare is better. So the private sector insurers know that an expanded federal health care program for all Americans will kick their asses, in terms of delivering better health care to more Americans. Which is the point of health care policy--unless you happen to be one of the lucky few receiving oodles of dough from the private sector health insurers (for parroting their line.)

Open letter to our commenters

Ken Avidor has announced that he’s not going to write regular articles for this blog anymore. I respect his reasons, but his departure leaves us with a problem. Ken’s contributions to this blog have been so valuable over the years that losing him is like losing both legs on the battlefield. So we’re asking commenters to help us out. Eva and I can continue to contribute regularly, even daily to the blog. I estimate that about eighty per cent of what we post here on DB consists of links to reliable information about Bachmann—late breaking news, video and audio of Bachmann collected by others, citations to editorials and opinion pieces about Bachmann written by reputable news people, etc. We also include material from the comments, and will continue to do that. We’re asking commenters to keep on sending those links (whether the links they send relate to the thread topic or not.) We'd like you to keep sending quality information and tips to the DB blog, posting these in the comment thread. What we’re asking for are the web links, to important items or audio/video mentioning or featuring Bachmann. We are also interested in items that relate to the candidates hoping to defeat Michele Bachmann. Your opinions, as always, are highly valued. But what we’re asking for here are the links to stories we may miss because we’re short-handed right now. The links you send may not always end up as stories--because we’re short of contributors willing to write them up as such, and because we’ll have to pick and choose among items we find and items you send in. We can’t possibly write up every link that’s sent in--because Bachmann now makes national news on a daily basis and because Eva and Bill both have daily schedules that make writing up every item impossible. And because we also have to spend time moderating the comment threads (to make your comments appear, to keep the dialogue moving, and keep the character assassination and obscenities out.) But if you want to use the comment thread to explain why the link you sent in is particularly important—so much the better, that will draw the attention of hundreds of DB readers to your item. Some regular commenters aren’t official contributors to the blog but continue to send in comments that are particularly valuable because they contain links to sourced information. We want to particularly thank Lady, Anna, Aubrey Immelman, and jonerik. There are others, too. We’d like to encourage commenters to keep doing that—sending in “hard” information from the Web, as well as opinion. And thank you all very much—we value your contributions and opinions, very much.

Bachmann grins as Fox Business panel dumps on private sector solutions

This is kind of funny because the Fox Business Panel seems to be composed of studs and babes debating the virtues and vices of public and private health care in some kind of singles bar. Note Fox News political analyst Kirsten's stunned reaction as Bachmann butts in to answer a question that was actually directed to Kirsten. And note Michele's immovable grin as the panel dumps all over her contention that private insurance is still the way to go, when it comes to providing health care for Americans.

Look at these tags...

Internet tags are what you put on posts to categorize them, so that people looking for information know what the posts are about. Tonight I was looking through YouTube to see if there was any good recent Bachmann video to slap up here. I found footage of her railing against Obama's health care reforms--nothing new about that. But the title that the person attached to the post was interesting ("Bachmann no health care for the disabled.") That's a lie, there will of course be health care for the disabled if Obama health care reforms go through. There's health care for the disabled now, and there will be health care for the disabled if the Obama health care reforms go through, and it's likely that more disabled people will received better health care if the Obama reforms go through. But even more interesting than that, are the tags attached to this video by the person who put it on You Tube. The tags tell you something about the kind of person that Bachmann is attracting as a fan, now that she's got a national rep: Congresswoman Bachmann No Health care for the disabled July 27, 2009 C-SPAN Category: News & Politics Tags: Glenn Beck Ron Paul New World Order NWO constitution conspiracy republic revolution bill of rights slavery federal reserves army navy air force marines veterans police cops law enforcement military freedom liberty gun control obama bush Oath Keepers federal reserve irs Civil liberties marshal law March on Washington dont thread on me Thomas Jefferson Benjamin Franklyn Thomas Pane Semper Fidelis tenth amendment continental congress patriot act I don't know what "army, navy, air force, Semper Fi" have to do with "Glenn Beck, Ron Paul, New World Order, NWO, constitution, republic, revolutions, etc." But apparently in this person's mind, they're aaallll connected to the misleading information Michele continues to present about the President's proposed health care reforms.

...but Michele still has friends in Texas, too...

...namely, "Texas for Sarah Palin," who are outraged that Michele has been named in an ethics complaint. Their post has everything in it: "Obama goon squads," "networks of Democrat operatives," "Obama's fascist takeover of auto dealerships," Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, and (of course) Joseph Stalin. The Democrat Party, using networks of local blogger operatives, successfully bogged down the Alaska state government with a series of bogus "ethics" complaints and FOI requests, all designed to destroy former Gov. Sarah Palin. Now the party of Hope and Change is using the same strategy in Minnesota: "Three Minnesota bloggers filed an ethics complaint against Rep. Michele Bachmann this week, claiming the Republican violated House franking rules in an email to constituents." Sound familiar? In the early stages of using the strategy, Obama's goon squads seem to be concentrating on on states that have attractive, conservative women of faith in public office: The bloggers say Bachmann advocated for the National Automobile Dealers Association, which is a political organization. They say that violates House franking rules, which stipulate that members can only refer readers to government resources and private groups doing public policy programs such as the Red Cross. We believe it is of no small significance that the dealers association (N.A.D.A.) provided legal and other support to those Chrysler and GM dealers who believed they were being unfairly shut down when Obama's fascist takeover of the two automakers required the corporations to close large numbers of their dealerships. You have to read more to get to the part about Joseph Stalin, but believe me, he's in there. Earlier today we pointed out that to some Texans down in Corpus Christi, Michele Bachmann serves as the weather vane pointing to the next big trend in crackpot politics. But to Texans for Palin that suspect the Dems of lingering ties to Stalin, Michele is a paradigm of sanity. It seems as if the stellar state of Texas is just one big Sixth District of Minnesota, at heart...

Bachmann notorious in Texas

This one, interesting mostly because of the editorial's funny "news headline": U.S. president turns out to be American It’s official: Barack Obama is a native-born American. He has a vote of Congress to prove it. Language in a resolution celebrating the 50th anniversary of Hawaii becoming the 50th state declares that the 44th president of the United States was born there. It passed the House unanimously with 158 Republicans voting for the measure — even Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, who briefly sought to block or delay it. So, will that quiet a silly accusation, lacking any factual basis, that has only grown in intensity since it first surfaced in the presidential campaign? That Obama was not born in the United States and thus is not really a citizen and thus is president illegally? No, but it may push it out to the lunatic fringe, where it can join other wacko conspiracy theories from the grassy knoll to 9/11 being an inside job... The editorial was produced by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, down in Texas. It goes on to explain the whole "birther" thing to its readers. (No mention of the "deather" thing that our readers have come up with to explain Bachmann opposition to health care reform. I think that's brilliant, by the way: Bachmann as an advocate of "cradle-to-grave conspiracy.") The point is that the editors of this newspaper expect Michele Bachmann's name to register as an "indicia of the nuttiness of an idea" even in distant, conservative Texas. That's good for the Dump Bachmann side, not bad. Every time we read her name in a non-partisan forum outside the state--allusions to kookiness are sure to be close by. That means that our side is winning the national fight. (We weren't just a couple of years ago.) No matter how popular she is with conservatives, the rest of the world knows that she's a nut, liar, and bigot--they've seen it on video. Our problem is and has always been the local fight, not the national one. Our problem is the election.

What's Minnesota Independent Doing Regurgitating Michele Bachmann's Press Releases?

From Minnesota Independent: Rep. Michele Bachmann succeeded in getting a resolution passed by the House on Wednesday. "Recognizing September as National Hydrocephalus Awareness Month will bring this disease to the public's attention and encourage the discussions necessary to more effectively address the devastating effects of this disease and provide support to families who live with it each day," she said in a statement. Why not check into Michele Bachmann's actual voting record on this issue? A resolution, without federal funding for needed research, is meaningless.

I Must Be Going...

Way back in 2004, a transportation activist sent me an MPR article about the pods that quoted Michele Bachmann. He said Bachmann was a real nut. I also began blogging about the other two people in that article, Rep. Mark Olson and former Mpls councilman Dean Zimmermann.... both out of office now. In 2005. Eva invited me on the Dump Bachmann blog. Back then, most people in Minnesota didn't know who Bachmann was. Most people who heard of her, did not know how extreme she was. A reporter (I forget who it was) told me I was wrong about Bachmann. "Ken, Bachmann is a moderate", he said. A week or two later, this blog posted the videos of Bachmann at the Living Word. So, the good news is it's widely known that Bachmann is a theocratic, right-winger. The bad news is her bizarrre rants have attracted a sizable following. A You Tube video of Bachmann titled "We Now Have A Total Gangster Government" has 1,295,498 views and 1,660 ratings. I expect Bachmann will continue to say the bizarre stuff those people want to hear. My problem with that is it is starting to feel like I'm repeating the same post over and over and it takes up too much of my time... So, this will be my last post on Dump Bachmann. It's been great working with the other DB contributors and reading the comments of our loyal readers and I'm sure the blog will continue to be the go-to-blog for info on Bachmann... stay tuned.