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Michele Bachmann

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Michele Bachmann (born April 6 1956) is a Republican State Senator in the U.S. state of Minnesota, representing the Stillwater area. Bachmann entered elected office in 2000 as a state senator when she unseated fellow Republican Gary Laidig who held the seat for 28 years. She faced the 10 year incumbent, Jane Krentz, for her first re-election after her district lines were redrawn in 2002 and won that race by 9 percentage points. Bachmann is best known for supporting an amendment that would ban gay marriage and all legal equivalents such as civil unions and domestic partner benefits.

Bachmann was photographed observing a gay rights rally at the state capitol from behind bushes.[1]

She was against the Twin-Cities light-rail transit (LRT) as too expensive and out of date, and instead supported the development of personal rapid transit (PRT) in Minnesota, as an alternative solution to traffic congestion[2]. Light rail has since been built and has had some early success[3].

In 2005, Bachmann announced her candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2006 election in Minnesota's 6th congressional district, hoping to succeed current Representative Mark Kennedy. She won Republican Party endorsement and will face child safety advocate Patty Wetterling and the Independence Party's John Binkowski in the general election.

Platform

Some describe Michele Bachmann as a conservative Republican who aligns with neoconservative values. Local newspapers prefer to identify her as a social conservative. Some of Bachmann's local critics charge that she could be more accurately described as a Christian fundamentalist political candidate.

  • Opposes all legal recognition of gay relationships [4]
  • Favors leaving nuclear attack option on the table in dealing with Iran [5]
  • Favors personal rapid transit and opposes light rail transit and commuter rail transit
  • Opposes any minimum wage [6]
  • Supports the teaching of intelligent design creationism in public school science classes [7][8]

Bachmann has made many controversial statements regarding evolution. During a 2003 interview on KKMS Christian radio program "Talk The Walk", Bachmann claimed publicly that:[9]

  • (Evolution) is a theory that has never been proven, one way or the other.
  • Evolution is a belief; evolution is not a fact.
  • A grain of wheat plus a starfish does not equal a dog, and that this was what evolutionists were teaching in our schools.
  • Senator Bachmann charged that the State of Minnesota would compel students to prove that evolution is “true”, and at the same time prohibit students from bringing in evidence to the contrary.

Bachmann also co-authored a bill that would require public schools to include alternative explanations for the origin of life as part of the state's public school science curriculums. [10]

After she was elected to the Minnesota State Senate, Bachmann charged that federal laws (such as the School-To-Work law) showed that the United States had a governance structure opposed “to both free enterprise and representative government.” Bachmann claimed that the US government had formally adopted “the failed ideas of a state-planned and managed economy similar to that of the former Soviet Union.” She wrote that the federal government had now “consolidated all local, state and federal policies, programs and funding into a state-managed economic system.” Bachmann also charged that the US was implementing a new national school curriculum that embraced a “socialist, globalist worldview; loyalty to all government and not America.”[11]

2006 congressional election

Bachmann received fundraising support from a visit in early July, 2006 from speaker of the House Dennis Hastert[12]. On July 21, 2006 she was visited by Karl Rove to raise funds for her election and was greeted with protests. [13]

The majority of Bachmann's financial support has come from outside the 6th congressional district,[14] including:

  • an event featuring Vice President Dick Cheney held on June 26 at the Lake Minnetonka home of William Hawks[15], a wealthy investor who is threatening to use eminent domain to take Minneapolis Park Board land for a private hydroelectric plant on the Mississippi River
  • a fund-raiser in wealthy Lake Minnetonka, featuring President Bush, held Aug. 22 at the home of a wealthy supporter.
  • donations Bachmann received from California Congressman Richard Pombo's Rich PAC. In October 30, 2005, a New York Times editorial described Pombo as "an outspoken product of the extreme property rights movement." In 2005 Pombo's sweeping rewrite of the 1973 Endangered Species Act was widely denounced by environmentalists as a disturbing retreat from habitat protection. [16]
  • approximately $50,000 that the Bachmann campaign received from members of the Alliance for Separation of School and State (ASSS). ASSS is a national organization that asks members and American citizens to sign the following proclamation: "I proclaim publicly that I favor ending government involvement in education." [17] ASSS believes that public schools were originally instituted to wipe out tolerance and diversity[18] and calls for an end to public funding of education.[19] [20]
  • Individual contributions that the Bachmann 2006 congressional campaign received from at least eight prominent persons who have been identified as likely members of the Council For National Policy(CNP). [21] [22] The CNP is a secretive conservative Christian policy group founded by Reverend Tim LaHaye, author of the popular “Left Behind” series of apocalyptic novels.[23] [24] Many prominent media evangelists and political activists have been linked to the CNP, including Dr. James Dobson of Focus On The Family and D. James Kennedy, a leader of the Dominionism movement. None of the eight Bachmann donors alleged to be CNP members give addresses in the 6th District of Minnesota.[25] It is difficult to confirm CNP membership status of individual Bachmann contributors because the CNP keeps its proceedings and membership list secret. ref>"Council For National Policy Unofficial Information Page".</ref> Among the eight individual Bachmann contributors alleged to be members of the CNP are Beverly LaHaye (of Concerned Women For America, wife of CNP founder Reverend Tim LaHaye) and conservative activist Howard Phillips..[26]

Personal

Michele Bachmann is married, has 5 children and has had over 20 foster children. She has a step-sister who is gay.[27]

Bachmann has a law degree from the Coburn School of Law at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. However, Bachmann is not authorized to practice law in her home state of Minnesota. [1]

References

  1. ^ "Same-sex Marriage Ban Fight Gets Nasty".
  2. ^ "Personal Rapid Transit Spending Draws Fire at Capitol".
  3. ^ "Hiawatha's early success provides momentum".
  4. ^ "Wording of Michele Bachmann's Constitutional Amendment to ban legal recognition of gay relationships".
  5. ^ "Midday with Gary Eichten, Minnesota Public Radio".
  6. ^ "Jobs, Energy and Community Development Committee Hearing, 1/26/05".
  7. ^ "Interview with Michele Bachmann".
  8. ^ "Stillwater Gazette, "Schools Should Not Limit Origins-Of-Life Discussions To Evolution, Republican Legislators Say"".
  9. ^ "Stillwater Gazette, "Michele Bachmann v. The Theory of Evolution", September 2003".
  10. ^ "S.F. No. 1714, "School districts science curriculum design requirement"; introduced 83rd Legislative Session (2003-2004)".
  11. ^ Michael J. Chapman and Senator Michele Bachmann, “How New U.S. Policy Embraces A State-Planned Economy,” Maple River Education Coalition. Copyright 2001 Michael J. Chapman and Senator Michele Bachmann; Permission granted to copy and distribute. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  12. ^ "Hastert for Bachmann".
  13. ^ "Rove to Help Bachmann Raise Campaign Cash".
  14. ^ "FEC Disclosure Report for Michele Bachmann".
  15. ^ "Cheney Headlines Today's Fund Raiser".
  16. ^ "David Whitney, "Rewriting Species Act Is His", The Tribune/SanLuisObispo.com, July 16, 2006".
  17. ^ "Karl Bremer, "She's says it's No. 1, but is she for it or against it?" St. Paul Pioneer Press, August 8th, 2006".
  18. ^ "ASSS web site, as of September 9,2006".
  19. ^ "ASSS web site, September 9 2006".
  20. ^ "ASSS web site, September 9 2006".
  21. ^ "CNP Name Index, "Seek God" web site".
  22. ^ "Federal Election Commission Campaign Finance and Report Data as of September 11, 2006". {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  23. ^ "For reference to CNP as primarily a Christian group, see the address delivered to the CNP by the current Prime Minister of Canada, Steven Harper, in 1997".
  24. ^ "For origins of CNP, see Marc J. Ambinder, "Inside the Council for National Policy: meet the Most Powerful Conservative Group You've Never Heard Of", ABCNews, May 5, 2002, page 3 of 4".
  25. ^ "Federal Election Commission Campaign Finance and Report Data as of September 11, 2006". {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  26. ^ "Federal Election Commission Campaign Finance and Report Data as of September 11, 2006". {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  27. ^ "For Sen. Bachmann, Gay Marriage Debate Is All in the Family".
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