Bachmann Wants to Secure Troop Pay in Budget Crisis

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By Larry Bivins
Times Washington Correspondent
St. Cloud Times
April 5, 2011

Excerpts

WASHINGTON — After voting against legislation to keep the government running, Rep. Michele Bachmann said Saturday that she wants to ensure American troops are paid during any budget crisis.

Bachmann, R-Stillwater, a tea party favorite who is considering a run for president in 2012, said she would introduce legislation that would prevent troops from being “used as pawns in political negotiations. If we reach another impasse like we did last week, our active-duty military and their families must know that their paychecks are secure.”

Bachmann’s comment is a swipe at her own party leaders who pushed through a bill Thursday that would have funded the government for one week and the Pentagon through Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year, while Republicans and Democrats continue to try to reach agreement on a government spending plan for the rest of the year.

When Democrats who control the Senate failed to even bring the temporary measure up for a vote, House Republicans accused them and President Barack Obama of failing to support pay for troops. …

To keep the government operating, lawmakers passed a one-week spending bill while legislation for the long-term measure is crafted. That bill is expected to be ready for a vote by midweek.

Bachmann, who has vowed not to support any spending legislation that does not rescind funding to implement the health care law, was among 28 Republicans who voted against the spending resolution. Many of the GOP naysayers were tea party freshmen who claim an election mandate to roll back spending. …

Full story

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4/13/2011 Update

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The budget: What would Bachmann do? (NBC “Today,” April 13, 2011) — U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., tells TODAY’s Matt Lauer she is not in favor of raising taxes to cut the deficit and that no spending cuts should be off the table, including defense spending and social security. (04:32)

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Related reports on this site

Bachmann: Freeze Veterans’ Health Care, Slash Disability Compensation (Jan. 29, 2011)

Bachmann Exploits Troops (March 13, 2010)

Rep. Michele Bachmann and her husband Marcus campaign atop a military vehicle with “U.S. Army” emblazoned on it, Stillwater Lumberjack Days Parade, July 25, 2010. (Photo credit: Ken Avidor / Dump Bachmann)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — April 10, 2010

Coming Home

Members of the 372nd Engineer Brigade based at Fort Snelling prepare to carry the body of Army Reserve Sgt. Kurt Kruize to a waiting hearse at St. Cloud Regional Airport, Saturday, April 10, 2010. Kruize was killed April 4 in a military accident in Baghdad. (Photo credit: Kimm Anderson / St. Cloud Times)

One year ago today, I reported that U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. Kurt Kruize arrived home for the last time. Sgt. Kruize is the first St. Cloud soldier to die in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and the third in Central Minnesota. Staff Sgt. Brian Hellermann of Freeport died in 2003 and Cpl. Anthony McElveen of Little Falls was killed in Iraq in 2005.

Left to right: Staff Sgt. Brian Hellermann, Cpl. Anthony McElveen, Sgt. Kurt Kruize.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two Years Ago — April 10, 2009

Bloody ‘Good Friday’ in Iraq

Video: Five U.S. troops killed in Iraq

Suicide bombing kills 7 in Mosul (NBC Nightly News, April 10, 2009) — In the deadliest attack on U.S. troops in 13 months, a massive truck bomb slammed into police headquarters on Friday, April 9. NBC’s Richard Engel reports that five U.S. soldiers and two Iraqi policemen were killed in al-Qaida’s last urban stronghold. (01:29)

Two years ago today, on April 10, 2009, I reported that a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden truck into a sandbagged wall surrounding a police headquarters in northern Iraq, killing five American soldiers and two Iraqi policemen in the single deadliest attack against U.S. forces in more than a year, while tens of thousands of supporters of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr burned ex-President George W. Bush in effigy at a rally marking the sixth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad to U.S. forces.