Bachmann reassures nervous Minnesota electorate: "I'm closely monitoring the [swine flu] situation."

[Buzz Clik]

Michele Bachmann on swine flu: She'll monitor and make sure officials have resources to stop its spread

By Joe Kimball | Published Wed, Apr 29 2009 3:31 pm

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who's got people of all political persuasions anxious to see what she says next, weighed in today on swine flu:

"It has come to my attention that a Minnesotan with close ties to the Sixth District is possibly infected with the swine flu. I am grateful that the individual appears to be recovering, and I want to assure Sixth District residents that I am closely monitoring the situation to ensure that state and local officials have the necessary resources to alert the public and prevent this occurrence from spreading further.

"Later today, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and officials from the Center for Disease Control will be holding a bi-partisan briefing to provide an update to Members of Congress, and I will provide updates to the district."

Minnesota Post

Personally, I'm relieved, and I don't even live in Minnesota.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

1. If she's "monitoring" this flu business,

Bachmann's constituents are doomed.

[xchrom]

2. i HATE that women -- i can't get 'hoot-smalley' out of my head.

i can't even remember the real name of the thing now.

:mad:

[rch35]

11. smoot hawley?

[Buzz Clik]

12. Well, it depends on whether or not you are Michele Bachman:

'HOOT-SMALLEY'.... I'm a little late on this one -- I try to limit myself to one Michele Bachmann post a day -- but the Minnesota Laughingstock delivered a doozy of a speech on the House floor this week, which deserves all the attention it's received.

"We were led to believe that we would see great change, immediate change, and all we're seeing is a prolonged effort, because just what happened in the 1930s with FDR.

"The more the government spent, the more the government regulated, the more the government put up tariff barriers -- trade barriers -- the more government intervened, the longer the recession occurred. And as a matter of fact, the recession that FDR had to deal with wasn't as bad as the recession Coolidge had to deal with in the early '20s. Yet, the prescription that Coolidge put on that, from history, is lower taxes, lower regulatory burden, and we saw the roaring '20s where we saw markets and growth in the economy like we never seen before in the history of the country.

"FDR applied just the opposite formula -- the Hoot-Smalley Act, which was a tremendous burden on tariff restrictions, and then, of course, trade barriers and the regulatory burden and tax barriers. That's what we saw happen under FDR. That took a recession and blew it into a full-scale depression. The American people suffered for almost 10 years under that kind of thinking."

Now, the notion that Franklin Roosevelt was responsible for the Great Depression is standard right-wing nonsense, and hardly worth paying attention to. Bachmann's argument, however, is more of a hilarious twist on the usual palaver. Indeed, her version of history suggests the Minnesota Republican is living in some kind of alternate reality. (It would help explain Bachmann's belief that Jimmy Carter was president in 1976 -- perhaps, in her reality, he was.)

It's hard to even know where to start with this. The economy under Coolidge was worse than the Great Depression? That's pretty nutty. The New Deal created the Great Depression? That's certainly yahooism at its finest.

But of particular interest is Bachmann's belief that FDR passed "the Hoot-Smalley Act" and that "took a recession and blew it into a full-scale depression." First, the name of the law was "Smoot-Hawley." Second, it's a real stretch to argue that it was responsible for the Great Depression. And third, the Smoot-Hawley bill was championed by Republicans and signed by Herbert Hoover, FDR's Republican predecessor.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_04/017967.php">Washington Monthly

[cpompilo]

32. How did that woman ever get elected -

she's batshit crazy and always trying to re-write history. I find her to be bizarre.

[Buzz Clik]

35. And it's not like she tries to hide it.

[xchrom]

15. that's it!

and that's why i hate her -- i KNOW it's smoot hawley -- but i CAN'T get 'moot smalley' out of my head now.

[peace frog]

13. Stuart Smalley?

Al Franken and Michelle Bachmann - now there's a love match!

[xchrom]

16. GASP!!! -- think of the Children! nt

[peace frog]

19. Dear GAWD, do you think they would breed???

I gave Stuart Smalley credit for better taste than that! Al Franken, well, I dunno - let's see what happens after they seat him. :evilgrin:

[xchrom]

20. poor stuart --

:spray:

go al! yay!

[DrDan]

3. she is in touch with Bill Frist via teleconference for his medical consultancy

[AndyA]

6. Yes, everyone if you know someone who's sick, send their picture to

Frist for diagnosis. It will help Bachmann keep her finger on the pulse of this pandemic.

We should all find great comfort in the fact that Bachmann is on scene. :eyes:

[DrDan]

17. the beauty of this is that Tom Coburn is also a doctor and able to backfill Frist

should the volume grow beyond the capabilities of one long-distance medical consultant.

[AndyA]

18. Yes, and I do feel *SO* fortunate to be in Coburn's district.

I've asked him repeatedly, since he wants to be a Doctor AND a Senator at the same time, and since both are full time jobs, who gets the short end of the stick: Your patients or your constituents?

I've never received an answer from him. :shrug:

That man is almost as wacked-out as Bachmann.

[ecstatic]

4. a batshit insane / uninformed liar is monitoring the situation

That's gotta be reassuring. :eyes:

[Buzz Clik]

10. And, if the pandemic in her Minnesota gets out of hand, she'll blame Obama.

She's good to go one way or another.

[Javaman]

14. she's just puffing up her already puffed up ego. nt

[Ikonoklast]

5. Her solution is to round up everyone that sneezes

and have them shot.

For their own good, of course.

[sellitman]

7. Her idea of a remedy is to ship all Hispanics to Mexico.

Betcha!

[peace frog]

8. We're saved!

Praise the Lord and pass the Tamiflu, Bachmann's on the case!

[Dappleganger]

9. Someone, please give her a leotard...

clearly the world is not worthy of this superhero!

[wellstone dem]

21. CONSPIRACY!! First Minnesota Swine Flu case in Bachmann's district

I think she arranged it for the attention.

[WildEyedLiberal]

22. Oh, well THANK GOD. Michelle Bachmann's on the case.

I can sleep at night now.

:eyes:

[Postman]

23. Go to Mexico City and breathe deep. Let us know how it goes....

[Occam Bandage]

24. She'll keep FDR from passing the Swine Flu Creation Act. Just watch her!

[11 Bravo]

25. Why, just the other day she had a pork egg roll with lunch.

[foxfeet]

26. She's hiding in the bushes outside the health department.

[DevonRex]

27. Wouldn't that be the fline swu to her?

[Warren DeMontague]

28. "resources"? Sounds like socialism, to me.

And isn't the proper response to everything to PRAY about it? After all, "science" is just the French word for "Satan".

[Catshrink]

29. And a cry went out in the state of Minnesota:

God help us!!!

[Buzz Clik]

30. Indeed. But ... they did elect her afterall.

:shrug:

[wellstone dem]

39. no I didn't This is double punishment I get stuck with her and she thinks

she will save me from swine flu.

[Hansel]

41. Amen. I wasn't worried until now. Her district is right across the street.

God help us all!

[SemiCharmedQuark]

31. I don't know what her problem is. Swine Flu is natural, like carbon dioxide. So what's the problem

:shrug:

[Buzz Clik]

34. Boehner has assured Bachman that swine flu, as with CO2, is not carcinogenic.

Not that any of us were particularly worried about the carcinogenicity of either, but Boehner has that little rumor nipped in the bud.

[tomm2thumbs]

33. why just last night she wove 'Some Pig' in her web above the barn

"blame the new guy - pass it on..."

[Hubert Flottz]

36. She will call in James Dobson and the other holy joes to

lay on the hands and make it all better. "DO YOU BELIEVE"...yes I believe she's full of shit!

[konnichi wa]

37. Hey, I am relieved -that- I don't live there...and I used to!

:silly:

[Buzz Clik]

38. You didn't move very far away. If she sneezes, she'll give you the flu...

... and then...

[NV Whino]

40. I think she needs to go to Mexico

to get a first hand look at the virus.