Bachmann on Ag and Immigration

From the Monticello Times.

She said that she has grown used to a fast- paced and heavy workload from her time spent on the farm to her six years in the Minnesota Senate. Her new title, however, may carry with it the busiest schedule of all, and is one that has still not registered with her.

Dump Bachmann and a constituent from Stillwater beg to differ.

When I think of State Sen. Michele Bachmann, hard-working aren't the first words that come to mind. Self-serving maybe, but not hard-working.

Bachmann has the lightest workload of any state senator. Although she serves on only three committees, two of them meet at exactly the same time. That means Bachmann only attends a maximum of four committee meetings a week. The rest of her colleagues' calendars, with the exception of two in leadership positions, are filled with anywhere from six to 11 committee meetings a week.

According to the Secretary of the Senate's office, senators are "strongly discouraged" from requesting assignments to committees with conflicting schedules. An aide in Bachmann's office says she often attends committee meetings in lieu of the senator. Is this the kind of representation Washington County voters elected in November?

Fear not though CD 6 and Minnesota, Congresswoman Bachmann will support a tax cut for all of us! Yeah!

"My bottom line is to cut taxes for all Americans, whether it is businesses, singles or family members," Bachmann said. "I want to cut people's taxes, and in order to do that, we have to get a grip on out of control government spending."

She included in her discussion, a national taxpayers bill of rights. The TABOR as they like to call it, went no where in Minnesota and is destroying public education in Colorado.

On the local level, area farmers will be glad to know they have one of their own headed to Congress. Bachmann, with a family background in dairy farming, said she is interested in agriculture concerns in the district.

The City Pages had a great atricle on her as well, farmers did not seem to be to impressed with then Candidate Bachmann.

In response to a complex question about setting up a permanent disaster fund for farmers and ranchers who raise beef cattle, Wetterling balked and admitted she didn't really understand the question or have an answer. Bachmann, by contrast, dove right in. "I appreciate the question, because on our dairy farm, we raise beef cattle as well," she began. "One thing we can never, ever, ever get away from is that we are not two separate entities: Commodities. Livestock. If there's anything that can interact, it's commodities and livestock. Without commodities, you don't have livestock. It's just that simple."

She concluded by noting that, as a mother of the sum of 28 children, she has learned that when families don't get fed, "they get cranky."

This drew a small chuckle from the crowd, but it was an uncomfortable one. One farmer turned to the one sitting next to him, shaking his head. "What the fuck is she talking about?" he wanted to know.

Bachmann opined on the Civil War in Iraq

I think that America has brought a great deal of stability to the Middle East.

I can't keep a straight face and read this...but I continue on. She decries the "Blame America" first crowd, calling to a partisan job. I for one have never "Blamed America". Both Senator Dayton and Wellstone voted against the use of force in Iraq.

The Republican Party is to blame for more than 3000 US deaths in Iraq, not America.

Immigration also was an issue Congresswoman Bachmann discussed.

"The travesty has been that we have had porous borders, and that must end," she said. "We must return to a respect for the rule of law, and right now there is a complete breakdown in respect for that. America has every right to say who comes into our country and who doesn't, and we need to get back to that.

"Bachmann said she will advocate for increased border patrols and a greater reliance on the use of technology to secure United States' borders. Overall, though, she said the entire immigration system needs to be modernized and streamlined.

Immigration reform is vital, I agree. Will she support going after Big Business that exploits this cheap labor? Will she support the building of the 50 foot fence?

Day One of Congress has begun...

I'm sure I could find a 51 foot ladder.