To all of you who are criticizing Michele Bachmann for being a ‘phony’ or a ‘fake’, let me disagree with you. I read her Redstate article from yesterday and never got the impression, as did Allahpundit at Hotair, that she was suggesting we should cut our losses and move on.
What she was criticizing was the leadership for making this the battle when in reality it is nothing but pennies:
Don’t get me wrong, cuts in spending are a move in the right direction. House Republicans have brought about a change from the spending binge of the last two years. But it’s time to face the facts. This is the “small ball” battle that House leadership has chosen to engage. The current battle has devolved to an agenda that is almost too limited to warrant the kind of fighting that we’re now seeing in Washington.
Nowhere in that article did she ever say we should ‘move on’, but rather that the leadership should make the fight about much more, even trillions of dollars. Read it for yourself.
In the video from this morning where she criticizes the leadership for not fighting enough, it is entirely consistent with her message. The leadership made a promise to cut 100 Billion or even 61 Billion (if you accept their adjustments), and they couldn’t even keep their promises. They just folded like a wet paper bag and that reflects on her and all other Republicans in Congress. That is why she is voting no.
In other words, if they can’t fight and win over pennies, how will they fight and win over trillions? I think she makes a great point that is neither fake, phony, nor hypocritical.
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