St. Cloud Personal Injury Lawyer - Minnesota 6th Congressional District

Does Bachmann Support Herself?

Mike Bryant — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:23:00 GMT

The US Census is underway at this time. One of the results of the numbers is the distribution of congressional seats for each state. There is again discussion that Minnesota could lose a one of it's eight U S House seats as the population continues to shift. Many people suggest that it will be the Sixth district that would be the seat which is eliminated.

You would think that the Congressperson from the district would be championing the census efforts. One of the most underrepresented populist is college students. So maybe head over to the colleges in your district and remind the students to fill the forms out.

Not Michele Bachmann, she is continuing her fight with ACORN. She declared that her family is only going to answer one question: the number of people in her household. I would think that this is the message that she is spreading to others. It makes you wonder what it is that she doesn't want to disclose. Wouldn't you think that most if not all of the information is already out for a sitting congressperson? Odd thinking indeed.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Bryant

Bachmann Who Believes This Stuff?

Mike Bryant — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 20:09:00 GMT

The Minnesota Republicans held their central committee meeting last Saturday and elected their new party leaders. It's an event to half pay attention to for me. Seemed like many of the speakers at least tacitly admitted that the party has a problem. With the two term governor Tim Pawlenty stepping aside, they are facing some of the same leadership issues that the national party is and the Democrats have over time.

The speaker who shocked me was Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. I guess it shouldn't, she's been spouting off crazy things for some time. I've even taken the time to blog about a couple of them.

But, it seems to me that she is going to a whole new level of fantasy words.

Her take on the economy is that the world is now in chaos and capitalism is being killed by the Obama Administration. I guess it's possible. But her view seems to be based on such a one sided view. Wasn't she in Congress for a couple of terms now? Didn't she see what a rotten economy the Bush administration created? The recent ironic Pravda article about the death of capitalism seems more in touch with reality. This is after a week where she called the President a gangster and continued her ongoing battle with the truth.

Next was her ongoing attack that ACORN is going to be running all of our elections? I doubt they have the numbers. It might solve some of our problems like the Senate race here in Minnesota and the butterfly ballots of Florida. But, she means this to be a bad thing. It all goes to her claim that ACORN gets money that it uses to register voters. The reality is that the money is Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) and goes to ACORN Housing, an affiliate of ACORN that offers home ownership counseling to low-income families.“CDBG rules list eligible uses of the money, including such things as building sidewalks, sewers and affordable housing, mostly. Specifically ineligible: ‘political activities,’” said Politifact ,a Pulitzer prize-winning operation of the St. Petersburg Times . “In other words, ACORN can’t use the money for voter registration.”

Finally, a new favorite as she claimed that American soldiers now had to read Miranda rights to Al Qaeda. I first have to wonder if she believes anyone should get their Miranda rights? But, back to the point, where does she get support for this claim? An O'Reilly report tnat misquotes another Congressman? It is an absolute untruth. The whole Guantanamo debate is whether we can just lock people up without charges, if they should get a hearing at some point and if we should at least treat them like prisoners of war.

It seems like she says enough that she actually believes this stuff. Hopefully, at some point she will stop getting chances to say them.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Bryant

Interesting Questions Come Up After Michele Bachmann Donation

Mike Bryant — Mon, 04 May 2009 12:15:00 GMT

This video is worth watching for all of those who are interested in following the ongoing tale of Michele Bachmann exploits. At the heart of the issue this time is campaign contributions she received from Frank Vennes Jr . Following these contributions, she requested that President Bush include Mr. Vennes in his late pardons. Unfortunately, Mr. Vennes was caught up in a Peder ponzi scheme around the same time. So no pardon and Representative Bauchmann attempted to pass the money or at least part of it on to Minnesota Teen Challenge. They said thanks but no thanks. " We didn’t want to be involved if it was dirty money,” said Rich Scherber, executive director of Minnesota Teen Challenge.

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This smells bad. On top of everything, she failed to report the money being returned to her campaign until her first quarter 2009 campaign filing, a possible violation of Federal Election Commission rules. Maybe with her no earmarks pledge she should also refuse political favor money. Oh, and maybe don't try to pass it off to others either.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Bryant

The Minneapolis Star Tribune Goes Easy On Michele Bachman

Mike Bryant — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 09:34:00 GMT

A piece in the Sunday paper, that unfortunately isn't online, is really a puff piece on the quote machine from the Sixth district. While the article does cite a number of her recent comments, it seems to provide support that she is actually a rational voice for the conservative movement. It will be interesting to see if that becomes the truth or is just a dream on her part.

Take a look at the recent statements:

"Thomas Jefferson told us having a revolution every now and then is a good thing and we the people are going to have to fight back if we aren't going to lose our country"

Really? A sitting Congresswoman is suggesting that we have revolution? Does she realize that she's been a part of that government for awhile now? Does she really want the government to be overthrown? It seems to me, that this language is very close to treason. Maybe, it's not well thought out. The "armed and dangerous" discussion that went along with this quote, especially troubling. Suggesting that it really was treasonous.

The American taxpayer expects health and retirement security, control of our nation’s debt, and an economic plan that continues on a path of growth and leadership in the global economy.

Where was this talk as we were throwing money away on the war? Is this truly something that is important to her? Is it a new position? Seems to be the words of a changed person, maybe we will see.

And so we need to once again decide, do we want to be free, or do we want to be slaves? We have to make that decision. And I know I've made my choice, you've made your choice. And we have to act in concert if we want to make sure that we can hold on to what we have.

It's interesting that she would use this mortifier. So what exactly are we slaves of? I guess it's an attempt to say that she won't pay taxes. Again it makes you wonder if she knows what her job is. It makes you wonder if she thinks she could be up for a cabinet post.

It is simply irresponsible to shut down a facility that houses known terrorists and transfer them to our neighborhoods

This is her being a legislator. It's the creation of a straw-man that we need to fear. The idea that the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center in Cuba shutdown is going to lead to them moving into downtown St Cloud. First, it's built on the faulty logic that these were terrorists being held. We really don't know because no one was getting a hearing there. Beyond that, there has been no indication whatsoever that Minnesota is a destination.

I'm a foreign correspondent on enemy lines and I try to let everyone back here in Minnesota know exactly the nefarious activities that are taking place in Washington.

Finally, this just seems bizarre. I know that Washington changed a lot in the last couple of months, but thats really what the electorate seemed to want. In fact enough of them actually sent her there also. It's amazing that she believes any of it.

Maybe the Tribune was on to something. For the Conservative movement, they better hope not.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Bryant

Bachmann Was For It, Before She Was Against It

Mike Bryant — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 08:27:19 GMT

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann seems to be at it again. She's been the leading opponent of earmarks on all the usual talking news shows. Clearly, it's an evil practice that must be stopped and is leading to the ruination of the country. But wait, She was part of the $3.8 million in earmarks that came to her district last year.

Will she ever learn? I am not for wasteful spending of any sort, but her outright condemning of a practice, she has used, is just another example of her hypocrisy. Maybe today we will see a round of "I never said they were always bad" type media from her.

Earmarks play a role in getting money for individual districts. When used correctly, those monies will build bridges, roads and be of great benefit to the people. I am always bemused when a member of the minority party comes out and says they won't use earmarks. It's not like they are at the top of the list any way. But, when you are the leader of the movement , maybe you should have checked to see whats in your wallet.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Bryant

Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann Un-american Claim Is Troubling

Mike Bryant — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:36:43 GMT

As part of an overall attack on the character of Presidential candidate Barack Obama, Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachman is now saying that he is Un-american. She goes futher to suggest that the Congressional leaders are also.

There are still three weeks to the election, so there are still questions to be answered by the actual vote. But, it seems safe to say that the leadership of both the House and Senate will be the same. So if Bachmann wins she will be heading back to a congress where she has clearly indicted those she would be expected to work with. Further, at a time when the country is truly facing some of it's biggest concerns ever, she has raised the rhetoric to a level that won't do a thing to moving the country ahead to solutions. It's doubtful that she will be able to play an affective role at all.

If the polls bear out and Obama does become President, it seems even less likely that she will be able to work with any of those in power. For those in her district this is very bad news. These unsupported comments are uncalled for and do nothing to help the country or the process. There is enough clear political difference that a fair look at the issues would serve the country and the voters much better.

10/22 As an update- here is an interesting historical analysis on the impact on this race and other races in Minnesota.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Bryant