In the second installment of fisking Michele Bachmann at the racist Clare Boother Luce Institute, Bachmann spends the segment haranguing Democrats with tired platitudes of "1970's style policies", "investing in defeat", and "killing jobs".
On Earmarks:
While Michele Bachmann is able to bring up two examples of Democratic earmarks, she seems to have left out a few items that point to the hypocrisy of the Republican Party on this issue.
First, is that Democrats reduced the number of earmarks in 2007 by nearly 25%. Second, cherry picking John Murtha would work a whole lot better if the other two people in the top three earmark recipients weren't REPUBLICANS. Bill Young (R) of Florida took in over 103 million in earmarks while Jerry Lewis (R) of California took in over 110 million in earmarks. That is on the House of Representatives side. In the Senate, Ted Stevens (R) of Alaska out does all of the top three House members COMBINED by bringing in over 389 million in earmarks. Not to be outdone, the third highest earmarker in the United States Senate is Thad Cochran (R) of Mississippi bringing in over 289 million in earmarks (over 100 million more than John Murtha). Perhaps this faux outrage from Bachmann would work more effectively if it was spread evenly amongst this bipartisan list of earmark recipients.
First, is that Democrats reduced the number of earmarks in 2007 by nearly 25%. Second, cherry picking John Murtha would work a whole lot better if the other two people in the top three earmark recipients weren't REPUBLICANS. Bill Young (R) of Florida took in over 103 million in earmarks while Jerry Lewis (R) of California took in over 110 million in earmarks. That is on the House of Representatives side. In the Senate, Ted Stevens (R) of Alaska out does all of the top three House members COMBINED by bringing in over 389 million in earmarks. Not to be outdone, the third highest earmarker in the United States Senate is Thad Cochran (R) of Mississippi bringing in over 289 million in earmarks (over 100 million more than John Murtha). Perhaps this faux outrage from Bachmann would work more effectively if it was spread evenly amongst this bipartisan list of earmark recipients.
On Polls:
Bachmann goes quickly into the tired old line about the Congress having the lowest approval ratings in history and attributes that solely to the Democrats. This line of reasoning would work if Congress were made up solely of Democrats, but given that there are also Republicans in Congress one cannot honestly make such a claim. So, Michele, that disdain the public has for Congress is for YOU as well. If Bachmann looked at the issues honestly, she might come to a much different conclusion.
Opinion polls which break down between Democrats and Republicans in Congress show a consistently higher opinion of Democrats than they do of Republicans.
While this poll is a couple months old, it speaks to the complete lack of context found in the message of Michele Bachmann and Republicans thinking that low congressional polls equals a repudiation of Democrats and not of Republicans.
Cross Posted on Dump Bachmann
Opinion polls which break down between Democrats and Republicans in Congress show a consistently higher opinion of Democrats than they do of Republicans.
While this poll is a couple months old, it speaks to the complete lack of context found in the message of Michele Bachmann and Republicans thinking that low congressional polls equals a repudiation of Democrats and not of Republicans.
USA Today/Gallup Poll. Dec. 14-16, 2007. N=906 registered voters nationwide. MoE ± 4. | ||||||
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| "Now, turning to next year's congressional elections -- If the elections for Congress were being held today, which party's candidate would you vote for in your congressional district: the Democratic Party's candidate or the Republican Party's candidate?" If unsure: "As of today, do you lean more toward the Democratic Party's candidate or the Republican Party's candidate?" Options rotated | ||||||
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| Democrat | Republican | Other (vol.)/ Unsure | | | ||
| % | % | % | | | ||
| 12/14-16/07 | 53 | 40 | 7 | |||
Cross Posted on Dump Bachmann
