Bachmann: I Won’t Vote to Raise Debt Ceiling

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann says she won’t vote to raise the debt ceiling, because it will set a precedent to do it time and again. Bachmann also said Monday on Fox News although she believes President Barack Obama was born in the United States, he should place his birth certificate “on the table” — as should any presidential candidate — and put the issue to rest.

 

“People recognize that we can't just keep upping the limit on the nation's credit card — this madness has to stop,” Bachmann told Fox News’ Sean Hannity. “What are we going to do, every three months raise the debt ceiling again? At some point, you have to exercise fiscal discipline. And it isn’t that revenue won't stop coming into the Treasury.

 

“What it does — it forces government to change its priorities. We can pay off our debt obligations first, so we don’t miss any debt payments,” she said. “But then maybe we can’t afford to pay for, you know, certain extra employees or extra programs. In other words, we actually cut back. That's not a bad thing — and people want us to do that.”

 

Bachmann reiterated she would not vote for the 2011 budget compromise reached Friday; Hannity asked her why.

 

“I think that what this bill failed to do — it failed to show the mandate of the election of last November — we didn't seriously try to defund Obamacare in this bill. We did not defund Planned Parenthood,” Bachmann said. “And we have promised we were going to cut $100 billion out of the budget, then we reduced it to $61 billion — now, we were able to provide $38.5 billion.

 

“I appreciate that we got that much — and this doesn’t denigrate any of my colleagues in their decision to support the bill — they felt they needed to, to support our troops,” she continued. “That’s why, I think it's very important than in any future negotiations, we take the troops out, so that our troops, families and active military don't have to worry about this happening again.”

 

On the issue of Obama’s birth, Bachmann said she takes “the president at his word,” and all he has to do is produce his birth certificate to put the issue to rest.

 

“As far as I'm concerned, I think if I decide to . . . throw my hat in the ring, anybody can look at my birth certificate, I could care less, this is the easiest problem to solve,” she said. “The president just has to give the proof and verification — either it is real or it's not. Everybody should put their birth certificate on the table and not worry about it.

 

“It doesn't have to be a toxic issue . . . we have a lot bigger fish to fry than this.”