Posted on 09/16/2011 4:22:40 PM PDT by smoothsailing
Bryan Preston
September 16, 2011
Something about Michele Bachmann’s video has been bugging me (and Matt Lewis too) ever since I posted it earlier today. Aside from the irresponsible lunacy of issuing a blanket opposition to “any governor or president who mandates a family’s healthcare choices and violates the rights of parents on these issues” and scaremongering about a vaccine known to be safe, there’s a word she should use in the video but never does. See if you can spot it:
“Whether its Obamacare or Perrycare I oppose any governor or president who mandates a family’s healthcare choices and violates the rights of parents on these issues – especially if the decision-making process occurs behind closed doors, bypassing legislative action, and favors campaign contributors over families.”
Which GOP candidate has had his state-run health care program linked with ObamaCare? Not Perry, since Texas doesn’t have anything like ObamaCare. No, that would be Mitt Romney. But Bachmann doesn’t use “RomneyCare.” Why? Has she allowed herself to become a stalking horse for Romney? If so, on what grounds?
And then there’s the crony capitalist problem. Bachmann has taken a lot of money from pharma companies. One company stands out.
Meanwhile, Bachman has taken somewhere north of $140,000 from pharmaceutical companies. Those donors include Abbott Labs, Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, Novartis, Eli Lilly and Bayer. Yet, not a dollar of all that pharma money, from such a wide range of the world’s largest drugmakers, came from Merck. Might Bachmann be going after Merck on behalf of that company’s competitors who also happen to be Bachmann donors?
Why bold GlaxoSmithKline? Because they make the only other viable HPV vaccine on the market, Cervarix.
If it’s fair to levy the “crony capitalism” charge at Perry, then it’s fair to levy the exact same charge at Bachmann, especially after her attacks on Perry.
For the record, I know the “crony capitalism” charge doesn’t apply to Perry and I don’t believe it applies to Bachmann. The stalking horse possibility is definitely in play, though.
Probably. Im sure if one were so inclined, they could find direct links from a contributor to a policy that benefits them in every politician’s career.
Why is this "hardly Presidential" woman running?? It's almost like watching an SNL skit on Palin.
I think you’re right. Our political system as it is structured today makes it almost a given.
I’m already sick of this word. Socialism is the evil facing us right now. To focus on campaign finance reform in the face of the Obama socialist wrecking ball is to be as stupid as... John McCain!
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I don’t think Michelle is ready for prime time yet. I have cringed at her CSPAN rantings as silly petty episodes of emotionalism. She must move beyond this. I wish she’d have stayed focused on the 105+billion mandated in the ObamaCare bill that need to be repealed or defunded. SHe is wasting her energies in this, trying to say she can be as good as Sarah Palin, but looking like a blundering fool. I like Bachmann. Really. However, she’s not ready for this, but was doing a very good job of keeping the ObamaCare issues front and forward so that people were aware. I wish she’d drop out of this and get back to work. I think she’d do more good, for now, as a US Congresswoman that she is.
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I agree we need to focus on one issue and that is the economy..
It’s a non-issue. She is going nowhere fast. No executive experience and too screechy.
I am so tired of politicians telling half truths. She has diminished herself in my eyes. My son says she reminds him of his ex who got her way every time by saying “the Lord told me to do this.” He said “how could I argue with God?” That is until he caught her having an affair with a lawyer in their hometown. Caution needs to be used in taking what Michele says.
She has a Susie problem. Every time Bachmann opens her mouth I get a flashback of annoying Susie from the first season of Survivor. How can America put up with that voice for 4 years. But it could be a good torture method for the terrorist. Stick them in a room and making them listen to her give a lecture on Obamacare. Make her the terrorist czar.
I’ve been saying it all along. If you want to eliminate a lot of crony capitalism, just eliminate corporate taxes and most of the regulation.
The taxes and regulation provide nothing but incentive to pay off politicians. John Stossel makes a good case when talking about Microsoft. Before the government went after them on the anti trust thing, they paid nothing in lobbying. Today they spend $100 million per year.
I would ask the author of this blog the following:
Did any of Rep. Bachmann's aides become a lobbyist for any of the corporations you listed?
Did Rep. Bachmann advocate for GlaxoSmithKline's vaccine Cervarix to be a mandated vaccination for young girls?
Can you point to any instance where Rep. Bachmann provided a benefit to the corporations you listed?
How many of the corporations you listed also contributed to Gov. Perry's campaigns?
What connections do you have to the Perry campaign?
Are you a contributor?
You are correct. Another tactic to minimize corruption is to comply with Constitutional limits. Private welfare or education spending, for example, aren't authorized in the Constitution.
How’s it going, CC?
She’s yesterday’s news.
Crappy, winter is coming like a runaway freight train.
I'll stay largely out of this fray. But I do question if Wikipedia (presuming that's what you meant by "wiki") is considered a credible source here on Free Republic. I'm aware that it's not on the list of verboten links but don't most Freepers dismiss what's written there as being biased toward the left?
Got colder here today, too.
I turned off the AC and opened the windows.
(Forgive me, please. I am prone to gloating!)
My best to you, bud!
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