Michele Bachmann

Bachmann: Impeach Obama? That's Up To Congress (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | July 28, 2010, 1:39PM

President Obama and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), the chair of the new House Tea Party Caucus, seems to be sitting on the fence over whether President Obama should be impeached. Instead, she's saying that those questions are up to Congress to determine.

In an interview with NewsMax, Bachmann was asked about former Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo's (Republican/Constitution) statements that Obama should be impeached for allegedly refusing to secure the border in order to force an immigration reform package. Bachmann -- who has said that subpoenaing and investigating the Obama administration is "all we should do" if Republicans gain control of Congress -- didn't quite give a definite answer.

"When it comes to the issue of securing our borders, again it seems to have a political basis rather than a basis that is grounded in what is good for America, our economy, and the safety and health of the American people," said Bachmann. "Whether or not this is an impeachable offense is one that the Congress would have to make a determination on. But I think clearly the president isn't acting out of the best interests of what would be good for people's safety and good for our economy."

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2010 elections

Michele Bachmann's Vision: 'Mother Of All Repeal Bills' (VIDEO)

Christina Bellantoni | July 24, 2010, 12:47AM

Las Vegas -- Rep. Michele Bachman brought the conservatives attending RightOnline to their feet multiple times tonight in a keynote speech where she said she'd like to repeal "almost everything" and predicted President Obama is a one-term president.

During the wide-ranging speech at the Venetian casino here, Bachmann (R-MN) bragged she'd reached 40 members of her newly formed Tea Party Caucus, but stressed her goal is not to be a "mouthpiece" for the movement. Instead, she said, members would listen and be an "ear piece."

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Michele Bachmann

Bachmann: 'All We Should Do Is Issue Subpoenas' If GOP Wins House (AUDIO)

Eric Kleefeld | July 22, 2010, 5:58PM

Rep. Michele Bachmann

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."

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Michele Bachmann

Bachmann Forming House 'Tea Party Caucus'

Eric Kleefeld | July 16, 2010, 10:50AM

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), one of the great stars of the Tea Party movement, has announced that she is forming a new "Tea Party Caucus" in the House of Representatives, with herself as its initial chair. Bachmann's office said in a press release that the issues caucus would "promote Americans' call for fiscal responsibility, adherence to the Constitution, and limited government."

Bachmann also said in the press release:

"The American people are speaking out loud and clear. They have had enough of the spending, the bureaucracy, and the government knows best mentality running rampant today throughout the halls of Congress. This caucus will espouse the timeless principles of our founding, principles that all Members of Congress have sworn to uphold," Bachmann stated. "The American people are doing their part and making their voices heard and this caucus will prove that there are some here in Washington willing to listen."

Bachmann has previously organized and starred at Tea Party events in Washington and around the country, most notably the Capitol Hill event last fall that she had promoted as "the Super Bowl of Freedom." Sometimes her language hasn't been too successful, such as when she rallied up a Washington crowd in December by declaring, "It's the charge of the light brigade!" -- a military disaster in which the light brigade lost.

MN-06

Bachmann Staffers Keep Quitting

Eric Kleefeld | July 14, 2010, 3:13PM

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) speaking at CPAC

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) must be really hard to work for -- even staffers who seem to do a good job end up leaving.

As Politico reported, Bachmann's chief of staff Ron Carey, a former Minnesota GOP chairman, has now become the fifth chief of staff to quit Bachmann's office during her mere three and a half years in Congress. A previous chief of staff had quit just this past November, and Carey was hired to be the new chief in February.

In addition, Bachmann's campaign finance director Zandra Wolcott left the campaign, too. Think about this: Bachmann's fundraising has been great. In the last quarter she raised a whopping $1.7 million. Her Democratic opponent Tarryl Clark only raised $910,000 -- which by itself would have been impressive in this Midwestern district, but paled in comparison to Bachmann. And still, the staffers keep coming and going.

MN-06

SurveyUSA Poll: Bachmann Leads Dem Opponent By 9 Points

Eric Kleefeld | July 13, 2010, 9:28AM

Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) and MN-06 House candidate Tarryl Clark (D)

The new SurveyUSA poll of the MN-06 district gives Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann, perhaps the single biggest star of the Tea Party movement in Congress today, the lead over her Democratic challenger, state Sen. Tarryl Clark.

The numbers: Bachmann 48%, Clark 39%, Independence Party candidate Bob Anderson 6%, and independent Aubrey Immelman 2%. The survey of likely voters has a ±4.2% margin of error. There is no prior SurveyUSA poll for direct comparison.

The district is very friendly to Republicans, having voted for John McCain by 53%-45% in 2008 and George W. Bush by 57%-42% in 2004. However, Bachmann nearly lost re-election in the Democratic year of 2008, after her infamous Hardball interview in which she called for a media exposé of Barack Obama and other Democrats for possible anti-American beliefs -- citing as evidence Obama's association with such nefarious figures as his wife, Michelle Obama. Since then, she's only gotten more vociferous, ranging from calls for "orderly revolution" to decrying America's new status as a "nation of slaves." And it's all paid off handsomely -- with Bachmann massively out-raising Clark's seemingly impressive haul.

Michele Bachmann

Bachmann: Obama 'Turning Our Country Into A Nation Of Slaves'

Eric Kleefeld | July 12, 2010, 10:01AM

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has made her latest pronouncement on the evils of the Obama administration -- that they are "turning our country into a nation of slaves."

[TPM SLIDESHOW: The Year of Michele Bachmann]

Bachmann appeared at a right-wing conference in Colorado this past weekend, the Colorado Independent reports, and in her speech Friday night she quoted from founding father John Jay: "We are determined to live free or not at all. And we are resolved that posterity shall never reproach us with having brought slaves into the world."

Bachmann then continued, in her own words: "We will talk a little bit about what has transpired in the last 18 months and would we count what has transpired into turning our country into a nation of slaves."

MN-06

Bachmann Raises $1.7 Million In Second Quarter, Far Outpaces Dem Opponent

Eric Kleefeld | July 7, 2010, 4:25PM

Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) and MN-06 House candidate Tarryl Clark (D)

The last three months were a busy fundraising quarter in MN-06, the GOP-leaning district that is home to none other than the infamous Rep. Michele Bachmann. A whole lot of money went towards the effort to defeat her -- and a whole lot more money went to re-elect her, too.

State Sen. Tarryl Clark, Bachmann's Democratic opponent, raised $910,000 for the quarter, with a total of $2.1 million raised for the race so far. On the other hand, Bachmann raised $1.7 million for the quarter, with a total haul of $4.1 million for the cycle. Cash on hand figures were not immediately available.

Bachmann held a high-profile rally and fundraiser back in April, starring none other than Sarah Palin. The district voted 53%-45% for John McCain in 2008, but Bachmann won by only 46%-43% due to her habit of making controversial remarks. Since then, she's emerged as one of the biggest political stars of the Tea Party Movement -- and it's certainly not hurting her cash flow.