Michele Bachmann: Health Care Law “Crown Jewel of Socialism”

By Brian Montopoli
CBS News.com
Jan. 19, 2011 

Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, a Republican and founder of the Tea Party Caucus in the House, today cast last year’s health care reform law — “Obamacare” to its critics — as “the crown jewel of socialism.”

The controversial Bachmann, who is said to be considering a 2012 presidential run, made the comments during debate on a bill to repeal the health care legislation. …

Bachmann and her colleagues insist, however, that the vote is not just symbolic, and she vowed yesterday that “we aren’t going to just check the box off and say we had one vote and we’re going to move on to other topics.” Pointing to what she called the “arrogance” of Democrats, she said Republicans would work in the short term to defund the bill so that it cannot effectively be implemented.

In her remarks on the floor Wednesday afternoon, Bachmann said the health care law — which does not include a government option — amounted to “socialized medicine.”

“The American people spoke soundly and clearly at the ballot box in November and they said to us, Mr. Speaker, in no uncertain terms, repeal this bill,” she continued. “So today, this body will cast a vote to repeal Obamacare and to those across the United States who think this may be a symbolic act, we have a message for them. This is not symbolic, this is why we were sent here and we will not stop until we repeal a president and put a president in the position of the White House who will repeal this bill, until we repeal the current Senate, put in a Senate that will listen to the American people and repeal this bill.” …

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the repeal bill would actually increase the budget deficit by $230 billion over a decade, though Republicans maintain that the estimate does not take into account all of the costs of the measure. …

Full story

——

 Related video

——

Related reports on this site

Video

Bachmann on the offensive (MSNBC “Hardball,” Feb. 2, 2010) — Sideshow: At a Minnesota townhall, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., predicted that the government could eventually use health care to limit free speech, to punish those who disagree with it. (02:11)

Weak Support for Health Care Law Repeal (Jan. 17, 2011)

Bachmann Healthscare Strikeout (Apr. 1, 2010)

Bachmann Healthcare Paranoia (Feb. 3, 2010)

Bachmann Stunt Back to Roots (Nov. 1, 2009)

——

Sidebar

Video

Lack of learning in college? (MSNBC “Countdown,” Jan. 19. 2011) — Comedian Frank Conniff shares his thoughts on a new study, which suggests that as freshmen and sophomores, 45 percent of college students make no significant improvement in reasoning or writing. (06:50)

——

FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — January 19, 2010

Taliban Siege Rattles Kabul

Smoke rises from a shopping mall after a Taliban attack in Kabul on Monday, Jan. 18, 2010. At least five people, including a child, were killed and nearly 40 wounded, officials said. (Photo credit: Ahmad Masood / Reuters)

One year ago today, I reported that Taliban militants struck in the heart of the Afghan capital of Kabul, launching suicide attacks at key government targets in a clear sign the insurgents plan to escalate their fight as the U.S. and its allies ramp up their own campaign to end the war.

——

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two Years Ago — January 19, 2009

U.S. Economy Faltered Under Bush

Tim Sloan / The Associated Press

Two years ago today, on Jan. 19, 2009, I reported that President George W. Bush presided over the weakest eight-year span for the U.S. economy in decades, according to an analysis of key data, with economists across the ideological spectrum increasingly viewing his two terms as a time of little progress on the nation’s thorniest fiscal challenges. Specifically, the number of jobs in the nation increased by about 2 percent during Bush’s tenure, the most tepid growth over any eight-year span since data collection began seven decades ago. Gross domestic product, a broad measure of economic output, grew at the slowest pace for a period of that length since the Truman administration. And Americans’ incomes grew more slowly than in any presidency since the 1960s, other than that of Bush’s father George H. W. Bush.