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Bachmann: 'All We Should Do Is Issue Subpoenas' If GOP Wins House (AUDIO)
Rep. Michele Bachmann
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Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has a plan for what the Republicans should do if they win control of the House of Representatives: Spend all their time investigating the Obama administration.
"Oh, I think that's all we should do," Bachmann told the Three Fingers of Politics website. "I think that all we should do is issue subpoenas and have one hearing after another, and expose all the nonsense that has gone on. And it's very important when we come back that we have constitutional conservative leadership, because the American people's patience is about this big. So we have to make sure that we do what the people want us to do."
(Via the Star Tribune.)
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Redwood Rhiadra
July 22, 2010 6:04 PM
Takes me back to the Clinton years, it does...
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mJJ
July 22, 2010 10:06 PM in reply to Redwood Rhiadra
Yes, even though I am a Republican, this ditzy woman is a total embarrassment to me. She just sounds so stupid whenever she opens her mouth. We have some great Republican women Senators. Maine comes to mind. But this woman is just so ditzy that it is embarrassing to have her near a microphone. Spend all our time investigating Obama? Bring it on and you, Michelle will look like a racist fool. Republicans worked for years to have some decent dialogue with blacks in our country and with this one stupid remark, Michelle, you can undo all that effort. Let it be known everyone, this ditzy woman does NOT represent my views in any way shape or form! She simply sounds deranged to me!
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rachelrachel
July 22, 2010 10:39 PM in reply to mJJ
Maybe you should join the Democrats.
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CT Voter
July 22, 2010 6:05 PM
While she's at it, she can investigate those Democrats she considers to be anti-American.
Look, people, you can be sorely disappointed with Obama and the Democrats, but keep Congresswoman Loony Tunes remarks in mind. If Republicans take over the House, it's going to be nothing but endless investigations. Issa has already said so, and it seem Bachmann wants to use it for campaigns.
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chameleon
July 22, 2010 6:46 PM in reply to CT Voter
Tell that to Oleeb, Clarence Vine, Indie Pro, Bluebell and all the other unhappy progressives who are going to vote Green as a protest vote. Boxes of rocks - the whole lot of em.
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libdevil
July 22, 2010 6:59 PM in reply to chameleon
Yep, we're pretty well hemmed in. Would we like this shit sandwich, or would we prefer the anthrax-laced glass shards and shit on rusty barbed wire toast?
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chameleon
July 22, 2010 7:05 PM in reply to libdevil
Exaggerate much? Sorry I left you off the list.
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allinit
July 22, 2010 7:34 PM in reply to chameleon
Yes, because faulting people for dreaming of being able to vote for someone that actually represents their views is sooooo smart. The only reason I vote Democrat is because they aren't Republicans but that doesn't mean I don't agree with libdevil 100% OOOOh the Absurd!!!
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JEP07
July 22, 2010 7:50 PM in reply to allinit
"faulting people for dreaming" might be a good idea when reality is biting...
WAKE UP! STOP DREAMING! DEAL WITH THE LIGHT OF DAY, NOT THE DELUSINS OF YOUR DREAMS.
'SCUSE ME FOR HOLLERING, but that was simply too valuable an opening to ignore.
If you don;t want another era of partisan impeachment talk and endless posturing, then vote for the nearest Democrat, no matter what the fringe candidates offer your dreams, because your reality is going to suck so much worse if you don't, your dreams will simply be shattered.
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JEP07
July 22, 2010 7:54 PM in reply to JEP07
one other bit of arrogant advice: don;t assume they are really liberals just because they say so, especially those who came here claiming it just after the 2006 Democratic takeover.
Look back and see how many supposed lefties who trash Obama arrived here and entrenched themselves as supposed libs very shortly after the Dems took control of the House and Senate in 2006, it is very revealing.
One might assume they would have already been hanging out here, but somehow many of them arrived, almost simultaneously, AFTER the change took place.
Archives are our friends.
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MyMy
July 23, 2010 7:13 PM in reply to JEP07
I am beginning to think there is truth in what you are saying. The so-called 'left' critique of Obama began almost instantly and before virtually anything had happened to cause so very much dismay...
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chameleon
July 22, 2010 7:55 PM in reply to JEP07
Thank you just saved me from having to respond from an idiotic post. Dreaming - that's the fricking problem with this country as it is. I'll be sure to add "it" to my list of dreamers.
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hologram5
July 22, 2010 8:16 PM in reply to chameleon
It is rampant, most people sit and watch american idol or the jersey fist pump crap. too many people still sleeping. Either party is worthless as neither one has any of our interests and all the special interests at heart. All they care about is whom they'll work for when we catch on and finally vote their lazy corrupt asses out.
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castanea
July 22, 2010 9:05 PM in reply to hologram5
Which is why the Republican-controlled Congress of 2005, with its crushes on snowflake babies and the life-supported remains of Terri Schiavo, looks exactly like the Democratically controlled Congress of 2010, which has passed legislation to address long-standing problems that have faced America for decades.
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allinit
July 22, 2010 11:35 PM in reply to chameleon
Aren't you full of yourself, sorry if you didn't get the context of what I said or do you just randomly hit reply in a thread
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Signalman
July 22, 2010 8:31 PM in reply to JEP07
+1.
We've got to recognize that incremental change is the only way we're going to get things done our way; little by little, we change the course and speed of the country.
We're not a cigarette boat; we're a supertanker. It takes time and patience to change course and speed. The Republicans know this; we haven't yet figured it out.
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allinit
July 22, 2010 11:24 PM in reply to JEP07
Well if you actually bothered to realize what post I commented on or what I or the other person actually wrote you might get my I actually meant. Dreaming means wanting. got that? Saying that I vote Democrat means I obviously know to use deductive logic to vote in my own interests within the constraints of our two party system.
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Grokenstein
July 23, 2010 12:30 AM in reply to CT Voter
Thank you.
I'm old and sober enough to remember the Clinton years and compare them to what came after.
Remember who insisted that Clinton was a monster, that "Gore and Bush are exactly the same," and then that "Kerry and Bush are exactly the same" (and ironically attempted to "draft" Gore).
Remember who replies to "don't make perfect the enemy of good" with "I'd rather be (self-)right(eous) than win(/be employed/happy/alive)" and would rather play the underdog beneath the heel of the GOP than back a Dem who might win and then accomplish something the hive doesn't agree with 100%.
Remember who toyed with the thought, at various moments, that Ron Paul, Michael Bloomberg, John Edwards, or even Sarah Palin would be preferable to whatever candidate those damned Democrats went with. Remember who swore to vote Republican if Hillary won the nomination.
Remember who didn't even consider Obama "black enough" until he went on Oprah, then projected all their dreams onto him, screaming racism at anyone who suggested otherwise. They're the ones now crying betrayal because those projections haven't come to pass, and are rallying to toss the country back to the GOP at the soonest opportunity.
Because they'd rather be "right" than win, you know. They haven't learned a damned thing from two wars, several major catastrophes, and piles of corpses--but they're too smart to listen to anyone else.
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Scott in PacNW
July 23, 2010 2:30 AM in reply to Grokenstein
I'm also old enough to remember Clinton and Reagan before him. Clinton was incrementally positive in some areas & more than incrementally aided the GOP in others. Abolished welfare & Gramm-Leach-Bliley anyone?
In those days, the DLC was pretty successful in making the Dem Party into a GOP-lite party. IMO, it was the same reason they lost control of Congress.
I considered Clinton a Rockefeller Republican then & Team Obama is very much in that mold today -- especially on economics (and little surprise considering his key picks). I make no apology for my view.
Just because the GOP drove the bus off a cliff -- and will again first chance -- doesn't mean I'm obliged to withhold criticism of Beltway Dems. I can criticize Dems, yet volunteer for, contibute to, and vote a straight Dem ticket. That's right: I can do BOTH -- YES I CAN!
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Signalman
July 23, 2010 9:28 AM in reply to Scott in PacNW
+1
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CT Voter
July 24, 2010 1:34 PM in reply to Scott in PacNW
Nowhere have I ever said people shouldn't criticize Dems. But those who advocate voting for any non-Dem as some sort of "protest" vote are those who simply never ever are going to be satisfied.
And if Republicans take over either the House or Senate, those same individuals will, in all likelihood, lecture everyone else on how little difference there actually is.
I've had it with people living in some sort of political utopia, where whenever the perfect is not achieved, they cry foul.
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John M
July 23, 2010 11:34 AM in reply to Grokenstein
You only remember the Clinton years? I remember the Eisenhower years....;-)
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GayIthacan
July 22, 2010 6:05 PM
If stupidity and vacuousness were corn flakes, this broad could give Kellogg's a run for their money.
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howie911
July 22, 2010 7:39 PM in reply to GayIthacan
I enjoyed that remark, thanks.
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JEP07
July 22, 2010 8:03 PM in reply to GayIthacan
"you are what you eat.."
Isn't Minnesota known for fruitcake?
Sorry DDAY, some company excluded...
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ADad
July 22, 2010 6:08 PM
A winning strategy...for Democrats.
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CityGuy
July 22, 2010 10:20 PM in reply to ADad
Agree. Campaign on it. If the Party of No can win votes by scaring people with fictitious bogeymen, us Dems ought to be able to win votes from people scared of what a GOP-controlled Congress would do!
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Prefabfan
July 22, 2010 6:17 PM
This is great news....FOR NORM COLEMAN!!!
couldn't resist...
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Hank
July 22, 2010 6:24 PM
And all the Obama administration should do is ignore them, just like Bush did. But they won't.
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FreeRider
July 22, 2010 6:32 PM
""I think that all we should do is issue subpoenas and have one hearing after another, and expose all the nonsense that has gone on."
Say hello to Rep. Tarryl Clark!
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ADad
July 22, 2010 6:35 PM in reply to FreeRider
Time to send a campaign donation to Tarryl Clark.
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chameleon
July 22, 2010 6:44 PM in reply to FreeRider
That picture really pisses me off. This is to show diversity. Who is this woman, her mammy. I wonder if they paid the woman to bring her kid and show up. These people are despicable and Bachmann is a fricking lunatic. She's a receptacle for sure but I will refrain from saying what that is.
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Mrwilson1
July 22, 2010 6:33 PM
Well we sure cant accuse her of spending time representing her people, so she should have hearings.
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Matt Jones
July 22, 2010 6:36 PM
She's right - whoever wins in 2010 should spend the next two years investigating what the American people want to know about. Like, for instance, where the WMDs that we were ASSURED were in Iraq went, or just exactly who we tortured and who authorized it, or why we let the big banks make off with billions of taxpayer dollars, etc.
...
'Cause that's what she wants to investigate, right? Surely she and her teabagging buddies aren't arguing that they should spend the next two years issuing subpoenas to every person who ever talked to anybody who ever talked to the Obamas... Right?
Oh wait, yes they are. Funny how a bunch of people who hate on "frivolous lawsuits" and "government waste" are locked-n-loaded to waste a mind-bogglingly large amount of taxpayer resources on the ultimate frivolous lawsuit.
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Phoebe Fay
July 22, 2010 6:49 PM
Yeah, cuz that's fiscally responsible. Spend taxpayer dollars on a witch hunt.
Well, kudos for her honesty at least. I guess one advantage of being a flaming nutcase is there isn't that filter that the smarmier ones have.
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Phoebe Fay
July 22, 2010 6:53 PM
Oh, I just listened to the rest of the audio. She's back to the "18 months ago, 100% of the private economy was private" line. Cracks me up every time.
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barrelhse
July 22, 2010 6:55 PM
Michelle, come over here and ask Me, the People, what I want you to do. You fucking flea-brained, third-class loon, may your ostentatious idiocy be the end of you.
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06STS
July 22, 2010 7:41 PM
Yeah, that's right . . . waste tax dollars on various witch hunts hoping to find something that sticks to the Democrats. So now we know the Republican's plan for America if they take the house. I sure hope there's enough Democrats to REFUDIATE all these nasty Republicans.
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zsa
July 22, 2010 8:00 PM
Did anyone really expect anything else?
We (libs/democrats/progressives) are The Enemy. We aren't to be reasoned with, negotiated with, bi-partisaned with, or compromised with ... we have to be fought at every turn.
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JEP07
July 22, 2010 8:06 PM in reply to zsa
and investigated at all costs...turnabout really IS fair play.
Issa knows what it's like to be investigated, he's a crook in history and at heart.
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crazycarnypoptart
July 22, 2010 8:02 PM
thing is they aren't going to win the house or the senate, They will prob ably have gains but they won't win control. and then I can laugh at all the people who say november can't come soon enough on this site. people still trust republicans less than democrats
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JEP07
July 22, 2010 8:24 PM in reply to crazycarnypoptart
...agreed, but wouldn't it be even better if we mustered the grassroots and netroots (wow, netroots still gets redlined by spellcheck here) we gathered to get Obama elected and DENIED THEM those gains, even turned it around and forged a much more solid WORKING majority, instead of this anti-progressive brinkmanship?
If all the firebaggers were to pladge to vote for the Democrats available, when the time comes, they could still tout their own candidates honorably, but not take the ship down by letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.
If everyone who considers themselves progressives, liberals and centrists worked together to move the fulcrum solidly back away from the right, THEN we could have this discussion.
THAT would represent "taking our country back" from the neocon sockpuppets who now manage it via campaign contributions and the obligations that they create.
And what might we do with that SOLID majority?
Take the corporate money back out of of the system,.
And here's one that all of you whould get behind; how about subpoenas for District and Supreme Court activist judges, to discern their financial connections to corporate influences? If turnabout is fair play, THAT would be worth doing, because they aren't just in there for the honor and prestige. There's a REASON the Corporate 5 always judge in favor of Big Money, and it's not Honor.
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castanea
July 22, 2010 9:25 PM in reply to JEP07
You outline a good strategy. Continued positive change will result from increased Democratic majorities, not depleted ones, yet firebaggers apparently are too purist to accept it.
Either that, or they aren't bright enough to realize that there is nothing wrong with abetting the establishment if it leads to eventual positive change. Firebaggers are more comfortable maintaining their intellectually rebellious and anti-establishment self-image than they are compromising.
My guess is that the firebaggers lack sufficient political maturity to vote a straight ticket in November because they cannot accept that the ideals they hold dearest are not shared by the majority of Americans. And yet I'll wager they'll be the first to lambaste the Democrats in the 112th Congress for being spineless, etc.
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jimson
July 22, 2010 9:28 PM
Right, good idea, to hell with the economy or environment or energy policy or national security or terrorism or immigration reform. . . spend all your time being vindictive. THAT'S what the American people want, that's what our congressmen are elected for, and soon we will be electing UFC champions so the fightng can be taken to a whole new level. USA USA USA!!!!
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Mary Alice
July 22, 2010 9:32 PM
Ms. Bachmann, how about a little compassion? You do know that Mr. Cheney probably isn't well enough to stand for trial, don't you?
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Mary Alice
July 22, 2010 9:34 PM
Ms. Bachmann, how about a little compassion? You do know that Mr. Cheney probably isn't well enough to stand for trial, don't you?
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Captain Crunch
July 22, 2010 9:41 PM
Taryn Clark, her Democratic opponent in MN should turn that tape into a campaign ad!
Voice Over: This is how Michele Bachmann wants to run the government if she gets re-elected....
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cmmc
July 22, 2010 9:52 PM
If Clark and the DNC do not SCREAM THIS QUOTE from this hills every single day from now to November, they will deserve to lose.
Jesus, if the Republicans take control, this country is so. fucked.
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david hilton
July 23, 2010 12:12 AM
Who is this "American People" she is referring to?
What a nutcase . . . however, if the GOP wins the house back,
expect impeachment after impeachment investigations.
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Squire T
July 23, 2010 12:50 AM
Yes, its a really good idea, when your country is in a trouble and needs direction, to be doing effectivly nothing.
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SoSad69
July 23, 2010 1:36 AM
yet another gem from the dumbest woman in politics today. She actually makes Palin look like a professor and she's the second dumbest woman in politics. It's no coincedence that both are republicans. Education and intelligence is deemed elitist in the RNC.
Keep it up. Dems ftw!
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July 23, 2010 5:37 AM
Get. Her. Out.
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jeevmon
July 23, 2010 8:08 AM
This kind of thing is why being a progressive is a lonely road. When Democrats lose, they view it as the result of being insufficiently appealing, and therefore try to move closer to what the other party is doing in order to bridge the gap. When Republicans lose, they view it as the result of not having been conservative enough, and they double down on the insanity. Their faith that the majority of the public is deeply conservative is unshakeable. One could argue that Reagan evoked nostalgia for the 1950s, Bush reached to the 1920s, and now the Tea Party wants to go back to the 1890s. I suspect that if the GOP suffers more electoral setbacks, they'll start advocating for the return of slavery. It would fit the pattern.
But so long as the conservative reaction to electoral setback is to become even crazier, progress will necessarily be incremental at best. And the "plague on both their houses" line becomes increasingly untenable.
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afisher
July 23, 2010 9:20 AM
CMMC comment is absolutely correct. Want DC to do nothing - vote for this "person".
Note to TPer's - her campaign comment certainly doesn't further your agenda of making gov't smaller. It is a call for status quo. Want to tell DC to quit wasting money = how does wasting 2 years on useless investigations strike you as good use of time/money.
That is the same as the TP Caucus: "we will listen": but no way will she actually take up any of your agenda items.
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TQTGA
July 23, 2010 10:38 AM
OMG look at the hair antennae in the top photo! I always thought the Republican leadership consisted of Reptilian aliens. But Bachmann is clearly Insectoid.
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jsdc007
July 23, 2010 10:43 AM
How about we investigate how much real work this bimbo does other than run around babbling like a lunatic?
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ZeraLee
July 23, 2010 3:28 PM
So that's a "Hell NO!" to functional government. How typical of a fifth-column republican.
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chrislib
July 23, 2010 8:40 PM
Speaking of subpoenas, isn't Ms. Tea Bag Lady on the new "most corrupt politicians" list? Bring 'em on.
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Jayne Dough
July 23, 2010 9:22 PM
I write about Bachmann, live in her district, and I'm devoted to getting her out of office this year. If any former campaign staffer or anyone who has worked for her would like to comment dish or dirt anonymously, please contact me through promnpolitics dot com. All rumors welcome. thanks.
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