Bachmann Earns Two More Pants on Fires

By Robert Farley

June 26, 2009

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., is no stranger to the Truth-O-Meter. So far, her comments have decidedly bent the needle to the left and, on one occasion, set the meter on fire. …

Recently, Bachmann went on record to declare that because of ACORN’s involvement in the census and other privacy concerns, she would only tell 2010 census takers how many people are in her household — and nothing more.

Here’s how she explained it in a Washington Times interview (which you can listen to here):

“Now ACORN has been named one of the national partners, which will be a recipient again of federal money,” Bachmann said. “And they will be in charge of going door-to-door and collecting data from the American public. This is very concerning because the motherload of all data information will be from the census. And, of course, we think of the census as just counting how many people live in your home. Unfortunately, the census data has become very intricate, very personal (with) a lot of the questions that are asked.”

“And I know for my family the only question that we will be answering is how many people are in our home. We won’t be answering any information beyond that, because the Constitution doesn’t require any information beyond that.”

There’s a lot wrong in her statement, so we divided it into two Truth-O-Meter items. You can read the one on ACORN’s involvement here. And in this item, we’ll address Bachmann’s claim that she’s only constitutionally obligated to provide the number of people in her household.

Related rulings:

ACORN will be a paid partner with the Census Bureau and “they will be in charge of going door-to-door and collecting data from the American public.”
— Michele Bachmann, Wednesday, June 17, 2009.

Ruling: Pants on Fire! | Details

The Constitution only requires us to tell the Census Bureau “how many people are in our home.”
— Michele Bachmann, Wednesday, June 17, 2009.

Ruling: Pants on Fire! | Details

Related link: The Bachmann File 

PolitiFact is a project of the St. Petersburg Times to help you find the truth in American politics. Reporters and editors from the Times fact-check statements by members of Congress, the White House, lobbyists and interest groups and rate them on our Truth-O-Meter. We’re also tracking more than 500 of Barack Obama’s campaign promises and are rating their progress on our new Obameter. » More 

Acknowledgment: Content adapted from PolitiFact, a project of the St. Petersburg Times. 

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Related post on this site

Bachmann’s Census Paranoia (June 27 2009)

Credit: Steve Sack, Minneapolis Star-Tribune