Bachmann is a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, a supporter of the Tea Party movement[6] and a founder of the House Tea Party Caucus.[7]
Bachmann earned a Master of Laws degree, worked as a tax attorney, and was a foster mother for 23 teenagers.[8]
Early life, education, and early career
 |
| Bachmann in highschool |
After graduating from high school, Bachmann spent time working on a kibbutz in Israel.[12] In 1978 she graduated from Winona State University with a B.A.. In 1986 she received a J.D. degree from Oral Roberts University, followed by an LL.M. degree in tax law from the William & Mary Law School in 1988.[13][14] She was a member of the final graduating class of the Oral Roberts University law school, and was part of a group of faculty, staff, and students who moved the ORU law school library to what is now Regent University.[15]
From 1988 to 1993, Bachmann was an attorney representing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).[16] She left her position with the IRS to become a full-time mother.[17]
Family life
She married Marcus Bachmann in 1978.[18] They have five children (Lucas, Harrison, Elisa, Caroline, and Sophia), and have also provided foster care for 23 other children.[19][20]
Bachmann also has an ownership stake in a family farm located in Waumandee, Wisconsin. Since the death of her father-in-law in 2009, the farm and its buildings have been rented out to a neighboring farmer who maintains a dairy herd on the farm.
Early political activism and career
Bachmann's political activism gained media notice at a pro-life protest in 1991. She and approximately 30 other pro-life citizens went to a Ramsey County Board meeting where a $3 million appropriation was to go to build a morgue for the county at St. Paul-Ramsey Medical Center (now called Regions Hospital). The Medical Center performed abortions and employed abortion rights pioneer Jane Hodgson. Bachmann attended the meeting to protest public tax dollars going to the hospital; speaking to the Star Tribune, she said that "in effect, since 1973, I have been a landlord of an abortion clinic, and I don’t like that distinction".[16][26]
In 1993, Bachmann and other parents started a K-12 charter school in Stillwater, and she began speaking against a state-mandated set of educational standards, which propelled her into the world of politics.[27]
Bachmann became a critic and opponent of Minnesota's School-to-Work policies. In a 1999 column, she wrote: "School-to-Work alters the basic mission and purpose of K-12 academic education away from traditional broad-based academic studies geared toward maximizing intellectual achievement of the individual. Instead, School-to-Work utilizes the school day to promote children's acquisition of workplace skills, viewing children as trainees for increased economic productivity."[28]
Minnesota Senate
In 2000, Bachmann defeated 18-year incumbent Gary Laidig to secure the GOP endorsement as State Senator for Minnesota District 56. She then defeated Ted Thompson of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) and Lyno Sullivan of the Minnesota Independence Party in the General Election. In 2002, after redistricting, Bachmann defeated a fellow incumbent State Senator Jane Krentz of the DFL for the newly drawn District 52.
In November 2004, Republican Senate Minority Leader Dick Day appointed Bachmann as Assistant Minority Leader in charge of Policy for the Senate Republican Caucus.[33] In July 2005, the Republican Caucus removed her from her leadership position. Bachmann cited disagreements with Day over her anti tax stance as the reason for her ouster.[34]
U.S. House of Representatives
Since 2007, Bachmann has served Minnesota's 6th congressional district, which includes the northernmost and eastern suburbs of the Twin Cities and St. Cloud. She is the first Republican woman to be elected to the U.S. House from Minnesota.[35]110th Congress
Iraq War troop surge
In January 2007, a resolution was approved in the House of Representatives opposing President George W. Bush's plan to increase troop levels in Iraq. Bachmann voted "No". However, before supporting the proposed surge, Bachmann called for a full hearing, saying, "The American people deserve to hear and understand the merits of increasing U.S. troop presence in Iraq. Increased troop presence is justifiable if that measure would bring a swift conclusion to a difficult conflict."[36] She hesitated to give a firm endorsement, calling the hearings "a good first step in explaining to the American people the course toward victory in Iraq".[37] When pressed, she said she had not come to any conclusion on the matter,[37] saying, "I don't believe we have all of the information in front of us. As a member of Congress that's why I want to go to Iraq as quickly as I can. I want to get the best information in front of me."[38]Member of Congressional delegation
In July 2007, Bachmann joined a Congressional delegation visiting Ireland, Germany, Pakistan, Kuwait, and Iraq. Due to security concerns Bachmann was only able to meet briefly with US personnel in the Green Zone and upon her return she said she "was encouraged by reports of progress from Crocker, Gen. David Petraeus and other personnel in Iraq linked to the surge."[39] She said the surge "hasn't had a chance to be in place long enough to offer a critique of how it's working. (Gen. Petraeus) said al-Qaida in Iraq is off its plan and we want to keep it that way. The surge has only been fully in place for a week or so."[39]Bachmann also spoke of the delegation's visit to Islamabad to meet Pakistani Prime Minister Aziz at the same time as the siege of Islamic fundamentalists at the Lal Masjid mosque elsewhere in the city.[39] She reported that "The group [of U.S. Legislators] had to travel in armored vehicles and was constantly accompanied by Pakistani military....We were all able to see extremely up close and personal what it's like to be in a region where fighting is occurring. We constantly felt like we were in need of security."[39] Bachmann told reporters upon her return that "the dangers posed by Islamic terrorism in Iraq, Britain and Pakistan justified the continued American military presence in Iraq."[39] She said "We don't want to see al-Qaida get a presence in the United States. Al-Qaida doesn't seem to show any signs of letting up. We have to keep that in mind."[39]
Opposition to higher education finance bill
On July 11, 2007, Bachmann voted against the College Cost Reduction and Access Act that would raise the maximum Pell grant from $4,310 to $5,200, lower interest rates on subsidized student loans to 3.4 percent from 6.8 percent, raise loan limits to $30,500 from $7,500, disfavor married students who file joint tax returns, provide more favorable repayment terms to students who do not use their education to prosper financially[40] and favor public sector over private sector workers with much more favorable loan forgiveness benefits.[41] Supporters of the bill said "it would allow more students to attend college".[42] Bachmann said her opposition was because "it fails students and taxpayers with gimmicks, hidden costs and poorly targeted aid. It contains no serious reform of existing programs, and it favors the costly, government-run direct lending program over nonprofit and commercial lenders."[42] The bill passed the House [42] and was signed by President Bush.[43]Light bulbs
Class action lawsuits
On June 3, 2008, President George W. Bush signed the Credit and Debit Card Receipt Clarification Act (H.R. 4008) into law. The bipartisan bill, which Bachmann coauthored with Congressman Tim Mahoney (D-FL), removes statutory damages to end "frivolous lawsuits" aimed at businesses.[46]Domestic oil and gas production
During the summer of 2008, as national gasoline prices rose to over $4 a gallon, Bachmann became a leading Congressional advocate for increased domestic oil and natural gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and the Outer Continental Shelf.[47] She joined 10 other House Republicans and members of the media on a Congressional Energy Tour to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, and to Alaska. The trip was set up by Arctic Power, an Alaskan lobbying group that advocates for ANWR development. The purpose of the trip was to receive a first hand account of emerging renewable energy technologies and the prospects of increased domestic oil and natural gas production in Alaska, including ANWR.[48]Global warming
Bachmann has charged that global warming is a hoax[49] and has been a vocal skeptic of global warming.[50] She has asserted that since carbon dioxide is "a natural byproduct of nature", it is a beneficial gas required by plant life. She stated that because life requires carbon dioxide and it is part of the planet's life cycle, it cannot be harmful. In a statement she made on the House floor on Earth Day, April 22, 2009, Bachmann stated she was against the cap and trade climate legislation, stating: "Carbon dioxide is not a harmful gas, it is a harmless gas. Carbon dioxide is natural; it is not harmful.... We're being told we have to reduce this natural substance to create an arbitrary reduction in something that is naturally occurring in the earth."[51]Opposition to the bailout
Bachmann opposed both versions of the Wall Street bailout bill for America’s financial sector.She voted against the first proposed $700 billion bailout of financial institutions, which failed to pass 205–228. She also advocated breaking up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and barring executives from excessive compensation or golden parachutes. However, she also advocated a plan that would suspend mark-to-market accounting rules and supported suspending the capital gains tax.[52]
The "Big Three" automakers; Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors, approached Congress to ask for roughly $15 billion to keep them operational into 2009. Bachmann criticized that bill, fearing that the initial sum of money would be followed by subsequent ones without the companies making changes to revive their business. Bachmann supported an alternative bail-out for the Big Three and the rest of the auto industry rather than the plan that passed. According to Bachmann, her alternative would set benchmarks for reducing their debt and renegotiating labor deals and would set up the financial assistance as interim insurance instead of a taxpayer-financed bailout.[53]
On anti-Americanism
The five Democratic members of Minnesota's congressional delegation — Tim Walz, Betty McCollum, Keith Ellison, Collin Peterson and Jim Oberstar — issued a joint statement in which they questioned her ability to "work in a bipartisan way to put the interests of our country first in this time of crisis".[56] Former Secretary of State Colin Powell[57][58] and former Minnesota Governor Republican Arne Carlson[59] said that her comments had influenced their decisions to endorse Obama for president.
Bachmann brought up the interview before business leaders and Republicans during a campaign stop in St. Cloud, Minnesota on October 21, 2008. She stated that she never intended to question Obama's patriotism. "I made a misstatement. I said a comment that I would take back. I did not, nor do I, question Barack Obama's patriotism.... I did not say that Barack Obama is anti-American nor do I believe that Barack Obama is anti-American... [But] I'm very concerned about Barack Obama's views. I don't believe that socialism is a good thing for America."[60] However, in March 2010, Bachmann said, "I said I had very serious concerns that Barack Obama had anti-American views. And now I look like Nostradamus" while speaking at a fund-raiser for the Susan B. Anthony List.[61][62] A year later, in March 2011, Bachmann was asked on Meet the Press if she still believed that Obama held un-American views. She responded "I believe that the actions of this government have, have been emblematic of ones that have not been based on true American values." Pressed for clarification,she said "-I've already answered that question before. I said I had very serious concerns about the president's views."[63]
111th Congress
Global currency
On March 26, 2009, following comments by China proposing adoption of a global reserve currency, Bachmann introduced a resolution calling for a constitutional amendment to bar the dollar from being replaced by a foreign currency. Current law prohibits foreign currency from being recognized in the U.S., but Bachmann expressed concerns relating to the President's power to make and interpret treaties.[64] Earlier that month, at a Financial Services Committee hearing, Bachmann asked both Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke if they would reject calls for the U.S. to move away from the U.S. dollar and they replied that they would reject such a call.[65]2010 Census
In a June 17, 2009, interview with The Washington Times, Bachmann expressed concern that the questions on the 2010 United States Census had become "very intricate, very personal" and that ACORN, a community organizing group that had come under fire the previous year, might be part of the Census Bureau's door-to-door information collection efforts. She stated, "I know for my family the only question we will be answering is how many people are in our home, we won't be answering any information beyond that, because the Constitution doesn't require any information beyond that."[66] However, her statement was incorrect, as the nonpartisan Politifact watchdog group confirmed that the Constitution does require citizens to complete the census.[67] Fellow Republican Congressman Patrick McHenry (N.C.), Lynn Westmoreland (GA) and John Mica (FL), members of the Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census and National Archives, which oversees the census, subsequently asked Bachmann not to boycott the population count.[68]Along with Congressman Ted Poe (TX-02), Bachmann introduced the American Community Survey Act to limit the amount of personal information solicited by the US Census Bureau.[69] She reiterated her belief that the census asks too many personal questions.[70]
"Armed and dangerous" quote
In March 2009, Bachmann was interviewed by the Northern Alliance Radio Network and promoted two forums she was hosting the next month in St. Cloud and Woodbury regarding Obama's proposed cap and trade tax policy to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Bachmann said she wanted Minnesotans "armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax because we need to fight back." Bachmann's office quickly clarified that she was speaking metaphorically, meaning "armed with knowledge." However, according to the Star Tribune, her quote went viral across the internet.[71][72]AmeriCorps
In 2009, Bachmann became a critic of what she characterized as proposals for mandatory public service.[19] Speaking in reference to the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, an expansion to AmeriCorps (a federal community service organization), she said in April:The original bill called for an exploration of whether a mandatory public service program could be established, but that entire section on creating a "Congressional Commission on Civic Service" was stripped from the bill.[74]It's under the guise of—quote—volunteerism. But it's not volunteers at all. It's paying people to do work on behalf of government. ... I believe that there is a very strong chance that we will see that young people will be put into mandatory service. And the real concerns is that there are provisions for what I would call re-education camps for young people, where young people have to go and get trained in a philosophy that the government puts forward and then they have to go to work in some of these politically correct forums.[73]
In August 2009, political opponents of Bachmann publicized in the local media and the blogosphere what they described as the "ironic" fact that her son, Harrison, joined Teach for America,[75][76] which is a member of the AmeriCorps program.[77]
Health care
On August 31, 2009, Bachmann spoke at an event in Colorado, saying of Democratic health care overhaul proposals that:
She outlined ideas for changing the health care system, including: “Erase the boundaries around every single state when it comes to health care,” enabling consumers to purchase insurance across state lines; increase the use of health savings accounts and allow everyone to “take full deductibility of all medical expenses,” including insurance premiums; and tort reform.[89]This cannot pass. What we have to do today is make a covenant, to slit our wrists, be blood brothers on this thing. This will not pass. We will do whatever it takes to make sure this doesn't pass.[89]
Bachmann denounced the government-run health insurance public option, calling it a "government takeover of health care" that would "squeeze out private health insurance".[90]
Critique of President Obama's Asian trip
In an interview with Anderson Cooper on November 3, 2010, when discussing cuts in government spending for Medicare and Social Security suggested by Congressman Paul Ryan, Bachmann was asked what cuts in government spending she would make to reduce the deficit. She cited President Obama's then-upcoming trip to Asia as an example, saying it "is expected to cost the taxpayers $200 million a day. He's taking two thousand people with him. He'll be renting out over 870 rooms in India. And these are 5-star hotel rooms at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel. This is the kind of over-the-top spending, it's a very small example, Anderson." Bachmann was apparently referring to information in a story from the Press Trust of India, attributed to "a top official of the Maharashtra Government privy to the arrangements for the high-profile visit", information that was also published in U.S.-based media such as The Drudge Report.[91] In response to the news report's claim that 34 warships were accompanying the President, a Pentagon spokesman, Geoff Morrell, dismissed the account as "comical". The White House said that the press report figures were "wildly inflated" and had "no basis in reality".[92] While stating that they could not give the actual projected figures for security reasons, staffers maintained costs were in line with the official travel costs of previous Presidents Bush and Clinton.[91]112th Congress
Leadership run
 |
| Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) (2nd-L) participates in a mock swearing in for Rep. Michele Bachmann |
Bachmann’s bid suffered a setback when she was passed over for the GOP’s transition team on which Hensarling was placed.[96] Despite Bachmann’s leading all other Representatives in fund raising, a Republican aide stated some "members are getting resentful of Bachmann, who they say is making the argument that you're not really a Tea Party supporter unless you support her. That's gone through the formation of the Tea Party Caucus and the formation of this candidacy of hers. It's just not so."[96] Sarah Palin, with whom Bachmann had campaigned earlier in the year, declined to endorse her leadership bid, while other Tea Party favorites Reps Adam Kinzinger and Tim Scott were placed on the transition team.[96] According to some senior House staff members, the party leadership was concerned about some of Bachmann's high profile faux pas, the high rate of turnover amongst her staff, and how willing she would be to advance the party's messaging rather than her own.[97]
On November 10, Bachmann released a statement ending her campaign for Conference Chair and giving her "enthusiastic" support to Hensarling.[98]
Committee assignment
Bachmann was selected by House Speaker John Boehner for a position "on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, giving her a new role as overseer of the CIA, the National Security Agency and the rest of the U.S. intelligence community."[99] Bachmann, who had "not served on any committee that deals with foreign policy issues" requested the position,[99] "a move that has fueled speculation that she may be planning to carry the Tea Party banner into the GOP presidential primaries."[99]Repeal of Dodd-Frank reform
Soon after being sworn in to her third term Bachmann introduced legislation to repeal the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. She stated "I'm pleased to offer a full repeal of the job-killing Dodd-Frank financial regulatory bill. Dodd-Frank grossly expanded the federal government beyond its jurisdictional boundaries. It gave Washington bureaucrats the power to interpret and enforce the legislation with little oversight. Real financial regulatory reform must deal with these lenders who were a leading cause of our economic recession. True reform must also end the bailout mind-set that was perpetuated by the last Congress." She also took issue with the law for not addressing the liabilities of the tax-payer funded Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.[100] Bachmann's bill has been endorsed by such conservative groups as the Club for Growth and Americans for Prosperity, it has four other Republican co-sponsors including Rep Darrell Issa, who became the new chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee at the start of the 112th Congress.[101] Bachmann's call for total repeal was seen as more drastic than the approach advocated by her fellow Republican Spencer Bachus who became the House Financial Services Committee Chairman with the change of majority in the House. Bachus "plans to provide 'vigorous' oversight of regulators efforts to reform banking and housing...reform Fannie and Freddie", and "dismantle pieces of [the] Dodd-Frank Act that he believes 'unnecessarily punish small businesses and community banks.'"[101] In response to Bachmann's legislation Rep Barney Frank stated, "Michele Bachmann, the Club for Growth, and others in the right-wing coalition have now made their agenda for the financial sector very clear: they yearn to return to the thrilling days of yesteryear, so the loan arrangers can ride again – untrammeled by any rules restraining irresponsibility, excess, deception, and most of all, infinite leverage."[101] The chances of Bachmann's legislation passing were viewed as unlikely, the Financial Times wrote that "Like the Republican move to repeal healthcare reform, Ms Bachmann’s bill could be passed by the House of Representatives but be blocked by the Senate or White House."[102]State of the Union response
Repeal of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Bachmann has characterized the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as "ObamaCare", and has continually called for its repeal.[104] She recalled to reporters that she called for debate to repeal the act "the morning after Obamacare passed".[104] Joining with Rep. Steve King she introduced "the Bachmann-King repeal of health care bill" stating that it "is our intent in our heart to make sure that Obamacare is completely repealed."[104] In light of a Democratic held Senate and Presidency that oppose repeal, Bachmann called on the Republican held House of Representatives to not provide any funds for the implementation of the act "But until we can see that [repeal] happen, we want to fully defund this bill so that, like, it would be akin to a helium balloon that gets no helium inside so that it can’t take off the ground, and that’s what we’re planning to do. I’m very, very grateful for nothing else; having a majority in the House of Representatives so that we have the ability of the power of the purse to not fund Obamacare, and this is exactly the right way to go."[104]On March 4, 2011 Bachmann (who was one of the six House Republicans to vote against the continuing resolution) expressed her unhappines with the move that gave a two-week reprieve to the fear of government shutdown, stating "I am vowing to vote 'no' on future Continuing Resolutions to fund the government unless there is specific language included to defund Obamacare and rescind the funding that has already been appropriated. Defunding Obamacare, along with defunding Planned Parenthood, must be non-negotiable planks in our budget negotiations."[105][106]
In an appearance on Meet the Press on March 6, 2011 and during a March 7, 2011 interview with Sean Hannity, Bachmann declared that the Obama administration and the Congressional Democrats had hidden $105 billion in spending in the overhaul of the American Health Care System. She portrayed the Democratic leadership as timing the release of the bill's text to avoid detection of the spending "We didn't get the bill until a literally couple of hours before we were supposed to vote on it."[107] She also stated the spending was split up within different portions of the bill to mask its total cost. Bachmann was alerted of the situation by the conservative Heritage Foundation which read the tallies of the Congressional Research Service and Congressional Budget Office.
Reports listed a partial breakdown of the costs which include "about $40 billion would go to the Children's Health Insurance Program, $15 billion would go to Medicare and Medicaid innovation programs, and $9.5 billion would go to the Community Health Centers Fund."[107] As the funds are designated mandatory spending (they are not controlled by the annual appropriations acts), the funds would remain even if the move to defund the reform law succeeded.
Bachmann stated that $16 billion of the money gives Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius a "slush fund...[to do] whatever she wants with this money."[107] She called on the bills supporters to return the money, "I think this deception that the president and [former House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid put forward with appropriating over $105 billion needs to be given back to the people."[108]
When asked during the Meet the Press interview if she would take back her previous comments that Obama held "anti-American views" and was running a "gangster government", Bachmann backed her statements, saying "I do believe that actions that have been taken by this White House -- I don't take back my statements on gangster government. I think that there have been actions taken by the government that are corrupt...I said I have very serious concerns about the president's views, and I think the president's actions in the last two years speak for themselves."[108]
In response to Bachmann's charges Chief Deputy Democrat Whip Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who serves on the House health subcommittee, pointed out that the report Bachmann refers to is an update of a report that came out in October 2010 and that the costs were spelled out in both the bill and the Congressional Budget Office's estimate of its cost, "Michele Bachmann obviously didn't read the bill, because there was absolutely nothing hidden in that legislation." Schakowsky held that the costs were not kept secret, citing the $40 billion for the Children's Health Insurance Program as an example "There was a robust debate about whether or not that should be included,etc. So this idea of somehow, now at the last minute, there was a secret addition to some kind of funding...is absolute nonsense."[109]
Political positions
Education policy
Bachmann supports the teaching of intelligent design in public school science classes.[110] During a 2003 interview on the KKMS Christian radio program Talk The Walk, Bachmann said that evolution is a theory that has never been proven one way or the other.[111] She co-authored a bill [that received no additional endorsement among her fellow legislators] that would require public schools to include alternative explanations for the origin of life as part of the state's public school science curricula.[112] In October 2006, Bachmann told a debate audience in St. Cloud, Minnesota "there is a controversy among scientists about whether evolution is a fact or not.... There are hundreds and hundreds of scientists, many of them holding Nobel Prizes, who believe in intelligent design."[113]Fiscal policy
Bachmann opposes minimum wage increases.[114] Bachmann supports increased domestic drilling of oil and natural gas, as well as pursuing renewable sources of energy such as wind and solar, and is a strong proponent of nuclear power.[115]In a 2001 flyer, Bachmann and Michael J. Chapman wrote that federal policies manage a centralized, state-controlled economy in the United States.[116] She wrote that education laws passed by Congress in 2001, including "School To Work" and "Goals 2000", created a new national school curriculum that embraced "a socialist, globalist worldview; loyalty to all government and not America."[116] In 2003, Bachmann said that the "Tax Free Zones" economic initiatives of Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty were based on the Marxist principle of "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs."[117] She also said that the administration was attempting to govern and run centrally planned economies through an organization called the Minnesota Economic Leadership Team (MELT), an advisory board on economic and workforce policy chaired by Pawlenty.[117] She said that health care reform advocates "forg[et] what the Constitution says."[118]
Prior to her election to the state senate, and again in 2005, Bachmann signed a "no new taxes" pledge sponsored by the Taxpayers League of Minnesota.[16][119] As a state senator, Bachmann introduced two bills that would have severely limited state taxation. In 2003, she proposed amending the Minnesota state constitution to adopt the "Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights" (TABOR).[120]
In 2005, Bachmann opposed Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty’s proposal for a state surcharge of 75 cents per pack on the wholesale cost of cigarettes. Bachmann said that she opposed the state surcharge "100 percent—it's a tax increase."[121] She later came under fire from the Taxpayers' League for reversing her position and voting in favor of the cigarette surcharge.[122]
Social Security and Medicare
Bachmann has called for phasing out of Social Security and Medicare:Foreign policy
Bachmann says in dealing with Iran, diplomacy "is our option", but that other options, including a nuclear strike, shouldn't be taken off the table.[125]She has also said that she is "a long time supporter of Israel".[12]
Global economy
In a discussion about the G-20 summit in Toronto, during an interview with conservative radio host Scott Hennen, Bachmann stated that she does not want America to be part of the international global economy.[126][127]On economists who have influenced her views, Bachmann told the Wall Street Journal,I don't want the United States to be in a global economy where our economic future is bound to that of Zimbabwe, We can't necessarily trust the decisions that are being made financially in other countries. I don't like the decisions that are being made in our own country, but certainly I don't want to trust the value of my currency and my future to that of like a Chavez down in Venezuela.
... the late Milton Friedman as well as Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams. "I'm also an Art Laffer fiend—we're very close," she adds. "And [Ludwig] von Mises. I love von Mises," getting excited and rattling off some of his classics like Human Action and Bureaucracy. "When I go on vacation and I lay on the beach, I bring von Mises."[128]
Social issues
Bachmann supports both a federal and state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and any legal equivalents.[129]In support of a constitutional amendment she proposed to ban same-sex marriage,[130][131] In 2004, the Star Tribune reported that Bachmann said of people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered, "We need to have profound compassion for people who are dealing with the very real issue of sexual dysfunction in their life and sexual identity disorders".[132][133] Bachmann has praised the controversial Christian youth ministry You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International, appearing as a keynote speaker at their fundraisers.[134][135][136]In 2006, Bachmann stated that she would vote to permit abortion in cases of rape and incest.[137] In the state senate, Bachmann introduced a bill proposing a constitutional amendment restricting state funds for abortion. The bill died in committee.[138]
Political campaigns
2006 congressional
Bachmann won her Congressional seat in the 2006 election with 50 percent of the vote, as she defeated Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) candidate Patty Wetterling and the Independence Party's John Binkowski.Mark Kennedy, the 6th District's congressman since 2001, announced in late 2005 that he would be running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mark Dayton of the DFL. Bachmann states she was called by God to run for the seat, and that she and her husband fasted for three days to be sure.[139]
According to Bloomberg.com news, evangelical conservative leader James Dobson put the resources of his organization behind her 2006 campaign. Dobson's Focus on the Family planned to distribute 250,000 voter guides in Minnesota churches to reach social conservatives, according to Tom Prichard, president of the Minnesota Family Council, a local affiliate of Dobson's group. In addition to Minnesota, Dobson’s group also organized turnout drives in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey and Montana.[140]
During a debate televised by WCCO on October 28, 2006, news reporter Pat Kessler quoted a story that appeared in the Minneapolis Star Tribune and asked Bachmann whether it was true that the church she belonged to taught that the Pope is the Anti-Christ. Bachmann stated that her church "does not believe that the Pope is the Anti-Christ, that's absolutely false... I'm very grateful that my pastor has come out and been very clear on this matter, and I think it's patently absurd and it's a false statement."[141]
Bachmann received support from a fundraising visit in early July 2006 from Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert.[142] On July 21, 2006, Karl Rove visited Minnesota to raise funds for her election.[143] In August, President George W. Bush was the keynote speaker at her congressional fundraiser, which raised about $500,000.[144] Bachmann also received fundraising support from Vice President Dick Cheney.[145] The National Republican Congressional Committee put nearly $3 million into the race, for electronic and direct-mail ads against DFLer Wetterling. The amount was significantly more than the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent on behalf of Wetterling. On November 7, 2006, Bachmann defeated opponents Patty Wetterling and John Binkowski, taking 50 percent of the vote to Wetterling's 42 percent and Binkowski's eight percent.[146]
2008 congressional
In the 2007-2008 election cycle, Bachmann's campaign raised over $3.49 million for her re-election. Roughly 70% of her contributions came from individual contributions, and of those, 28% were from small individual contributions and 42% were from large individual contributions.[148]
2010 congressional
Bachmann was challenged in 2010 by Democratic-Farmer-Labor nominee Tarryl Clark and Independent Candidate Bob Anderson. With more than $8.5 million, Bachmann spent more than any other House of Representative candidate, although her opponent, Tarryl Clark, was able to raise $4 million, one of the largest fundraising efforts in the nation for a U.S. House challenger.[149] On November 2, 2010, Bachmann defeated Tarryl Clark by 52% to 40% of the vote.In the 2009-2010 election cycle, Bachmann's campaign raised over $13.4 million for her re-election; the average House member raised about $1 million over the same election cycle. Roughly 96% of her contributions came from individual contributors, and of those, 56% were from small individual contributions and 40% were from large individual contributions.[150] Additionally, 3% came from PAC contributions and less than 1% from other sources.
2012 presidential campaign
