It turns out that Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), who has gone over the heads of the GOP leadership in a whole host of ways — notably her recent State of the Union rebuttal address — has also touched a serious third rail with her own budget proposal: Freezes and cuts to veterans’ benefits.
The Army Times reports:
Tea party favorite Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., has unveiled a plan for cutting $400 billion in federal spending that includes freezing Veterans Affairs Department health care spending and cutting veterans’ disability benefits.
Her proposed VA budget cuts would account for $4.5 billion of the savings included in the plan, posted on her official House of Representatives website.
…
In a statement, Bachmann said her plan is intended for discussion purposes as an example of ways to cut federal spending to make it unnecessary to increase the current $14.3 trillion limit on the amount the U.S. government can borrow.
Wow. When she says she doesn’t like government-run health care…she really means it!
I have e-mailed the GOP leadership for comment. Let’s see if they even want to touch this one.
Late Update: The offices of both Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) have declined to comment.
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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