Michelle Bachmann's Greatest Hits

Last fall, Rep. Michele Bachmann held onto her seat in Congress despite Democratic challenger Jim Graves' efforts. Now, Graves wants a rematch in 2014.  "A lot of people come up to me and say we're kind of embarrassed by our representation in Washington," he has said. "People are tired of her antagonistic, propagating gridlock."

It is true that she is one of the most polarizing members of the House of Representatives.  I thought I would throw together some of the most ridiculous things she has said/done in the past few years.

Michele Bachmann on Homosexuals:

Bachmann doesn't understand Obamacare:

I wish Jim Graves luck in 2014.  We need to get her out of Congress.

Friday Shakedown

Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) took to the House floor on Thursday arguing for the repeal of Obamacare.  The House GOP has put this up for a vote, and failed, so many times now.  It was funny for a while, but now it's just a waste of time.  They should try to do something more constructive, like trying to solve the sequester problem.

BACHMANN: That’s why we’re here because we’re saying let’s repeal this failure before it literally kills women, kills children, kills senior citizens. Let’s not do that. Let’s love people, let’s care about people. Let’s repeal it now while we can.

First of all, Obamacare does not kill anyone.  Oh I get it, affordable healthcare kills people but not guns.  If she really cared about keeping people alive, she would support the gun legislation being talked about on the Hill.

Speaking of guns, has-been musician and gun nut Ted Nugent wrote a column for a birther website.  In his column he claims that "leftist stooges" are at fault for gun crime.  Here's what he said:

The left has lied for decades about guns because they hate guns, despise the Second Amendment and blame the NRA families for crime and violence in our cities.

Truth is, it is the socialist stooges who are responsible for violence. It is their policies that prevent good guys from arming and protecting themselves and creates the big lie of "gun free" slaughter zones.

It isn't just anti-gun leftist policies that have enabled thugs to breed and prosper. The violence on America's streets is the result of a number of other leftist big-government policies that have worked to destroy families and entire communities by discouraging accountability and rewarding dangerous behavior.

That's the turbo destructo modus operandi of the socialists: Intentionally destroy something and then claim the solution to fix it is always more government, more laws, more control and less freedom.

Good people want to protect our children. Leftist stooges want to create conditions for evil to flourish. They don't care one bit about protecting kids.

Never trust leftist goons. They will put you and your children at risk to advance their socialist, anti-freedom agenda.

All he is doing is perpetuating gun advocate arguments that do not have facts behind them.  Believe it or not, states with more gun laws actually have less gun violence.

And lastly, out of Arizona, a bill which the local media has dubbed the "Show Me Your Papers Before You Go Potty" bill.  This is a reference, of course, to their controversial 2010 immigration bill.

The bill is targeted at transgender people and would legally require you to use the bathroom that corresponds to your gender as listed on your birth certificate.  

With more people identifying as transgender, state and local governments are increasingly banning gender-identity discrimination to ward off legal battles, but opponents and proponents alike complain the laws don't explicitly demand businesses provide equal access for transgender people, creating confusion over how governments, restaurants, clothing stores and other establishments must act.
It's been a crazy week, next week will likely be more of the same.

Obama Is Not Hitler, Stop It

Audio from MediaMatters:

Can we please get together and stop comparing everything Obama does to Hitler and Stalin?  Seriously, it's as cliche as a lead balloon.  Godwin's Law, it is alive and well.  

More moronic gems from Rush:

Limbaugh: Obama Benefits From "Complicit Media," Like Stalin Did While Killing And Imprisoning Wealthy Farmers

Limbaugh: Like Dictators Such As Hitler, Stalin, Obama Has Avoided Blame For Bad Things Happening

Limbaugh: "Adolf Hitler, Like Barack Obama, Also Ruled By Dictate"

Just stop, seriously, it makes you look like a clown, and a historically and politically ignorant clown at that.

Paul Ryan's Fantasy

Paul Ryan does not seem to understand the political climate right now.  John Boehner understands the Obamacare is here to stay.  Earlier this year he said in an interview with Diane Sawyer "I think the election changes that, it's pretty clear that the president was re-elected, Obamacare is the law of the land." 

Congressman Ryan should probably get on the same page with the Speaker.  Today on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace he had the following exchange.  To Wallace's credit, he didn't let his comments go without comment.

Ryan: These are increases that have not come yet, so by repealing Obamacare and the Medicaid expansions, which haven't occurred yet, we are basically preventing the explosion of a program that is already failing. So we're saying, don't grow this program through Obamacare because it doesn't work.

Wallace: Are you saying, as part of you budget, you would repeal -- you assume the repeal of Obamacare?

Ryan: Yes.

Wallace: Well, that's not going to happen.

Ryan: Well, we believe it should, that's the point.

Chris Wallace is exactly right, it isn't going to be repealed.  The House GOP has tried dozens of times to repeal it, and have failed miserably.  As more and more benefits of the Affordable Care Act become available to people, the popularity of the law increases.  His budget is dishonest because it centers around an impossibility.  Obamacare is here to stay and the country is better for it.  

Lindsey Graham's Unserious Proposal

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has come up with a great idea to save money and avoid the sequestration: cut the Affordable Care Act.

The Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, has helped millions of young people by allowing them to have coverage they would not otherwise have had.  This law also helps poorer Americans.  It helps the single mom that has to work three part-time jobs to make ends meet, none of which would provide her health insurance coverage.  Likewise, the sequester would also disproportionately impact the poorer end of the population.  So essentially, Sen. Graham wants the President to choose between hurting the poor by eliminating Obamacare or hurting the poor by forcing Republicans to force the sequester.

This is a ridiculous choice Sen. Graham is proposing.

The White House has released a Fact Sheet on how the sequester will affect people and the economy should Congress allow March 1st to pass without addressing the issue.  With people like Sen. Lindsey Graham and Speaker John Boehner on the case, I would not be surprised if the sequester happens.

Here are some of the impacts the sequester would have: via WhiteHouse.gov

• Cuts to education: Our ability to teach our kids the skills they’ll need for the jobs of the future would be put at risk. 70,000 young children would be kicked off Head Start, 10,000 teacher jobs would be put at risk, and funding for up to 7,200 special education teachers, aides, and staff could be cut.

• Cuts to mental health: If a sequester takes effect, up to 373,000 seriously mentally ill adults and seriously emotionally disturbed children could go untreated. This would likely lead to increased hospitalizations, involvement in the criminal justice system, and homelessness for these individuals.

• Cuts to food safety: Outbreaks of foodborne illness are a serious threat to families and public health. If a sequester takes effect, up to 2,100 fewer food inspections could occur, putting families at risk and costing billions in lost food production.

• FBI and other law enforcement – The FBI and other law enforcement entities would see a reduction in capacity equivalent to more than 1,000 Federal agents. This loss of agents would significantly impact our ability to combat violent crime, pursue financial crimes, secure our borders, and protect national security.

• Emergency responders – FEMA would need to reduce funding for State and local grants that support firefighter positions and State and local emergency management personnel, hampering our ability to respond to natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy and other emergencies.

• Homelessness programs – More than 100,000 formerly homeless people, including veterans, would be removed from their current housing and emergency shelter programs, putting them at risk of returning to the streets.

• AIDS and HIV treatment and prevention – Cuts to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program could result in 7,400 fewer patients having access to life saving HIV medications. And approximately 424,000 fewer HIV tests could be conducted by Centers for Disease Control (CDC) State grantees, which could result in increased future HIV transmissions, deaths from HIV, and costs in health care.

All of these programs contribute to a stronger society. It doesn't make sense to cut these before cutting the inflated Defense budget.

Shameful

Just over a week ago, Idaho State Senator Sheryl Nuxoll (R) voiced her opposition to Obamacare. The problem wasn't that she opposed Obamacare, a lot of Republicans do. The problem was how she did it, specifically the metaphor she decided to use. She said that Idaho should refuse to set up a state run exchange under Obamacare. She claimed that Obama would wipe out the private insurance companies that are currently being used and begin a socialistic health care system. Here is what she said about those private insurance companies currently being used:

"The insurance companies are creating their own tombs. Much like the Jews boarding the trains to concentration camps, private insurers are used by the feds to put the system in place because the federal government has no way to set up the exchange." - State Sen. Sheryl Nuxoll (ID-R)

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) gave a speech this week attacking ideas to regulate the for-profit college system.  This is a system that generally puts students far into debt without much of a competitive education.  Her opposition to regulation was not much of a surprise given that her campaigns are heavily financed by that industry.  Here are her own words on the matter:

“‘They came for the for-profits, and I didn’t speak up…’” Foxx said. “Nobody really spoke up like they should have.”

She is paraphrasing German theologian Martin Niemöller on Germans who ignored Nazi persecution. (“First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a communist.”)

Can we come together, please, and stop comparing things that aren't horrendous genocide to the Holocaust?  Seriously.  A system that helps millions get health insurance that otherwise wouldn't have it should not be compared to Nazi anything.  Plans to regulate an industry that desperately needs regulation is not killing anyone, certainly not 12 million.  

Ridiculous comparisons like this are an insult to anyone that died in the Holocaust and any of their descendants.  It is also an insult to the soldiers that liberated the camps and actually saw how horrific it was.  Shame on Sen. Nuxoll and Rep. Foxx.

It's sad that Godwin's Law is so prevalent.