This is a series of articles which gives voting record information about 2012 presidential candidates. Most of the references given are from thomas.loc.gov, an official government website which is part of the Library of Congress. Hopefully, this information will help you to make a decision about who you are going to vote for. Also included is a brief biography and information about endorsements made by the candidate. Today's candidate is Michele Bachmann. Click here to read part 1.
Michele Bachmann has 5 children. She and her husband took in 23 teenage girls with eating disorders into their home as foster children to help them to overcome their problem. She and her husband own a Christian mental healthcare counseling practice which employs 50 people. Bachmann worked for the IRS as a Federal tax litigation attorney for 5 years.
She has served two full terms in the House of Representatives. She currently serves on the Financial Services Committee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. She is also a member of bipartisan Congressional Prayer Caucus. She is the founder of the House Tea Party Caucus.
Abortion
Michele Bachmann is a cosponsor of the Life at Conception Act. [1] But she is not cosponsor of the Sanctity of Human Life Act. [2] She is not a cosponsor of Ron Paul’s Sanctity of Life Act of 2011. [3]
She has never voted for any budget that includes funding for Planned Parenthood. She has never voted for a Department of Health and Human Services appropriations bill. These bills always make federal funds available for abortion providers. Although, if these bills did not pass, some people would likely have their Medicare and/or Medicaid benefits cut off. She is a cosponsor of Mike Pence’s Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act. [5, 6] She is a cosponsor of the Protect Life Act (which would disallow most abortion funding which could result from Obamacare). [7] She voted for the Stupak-Pitts amendment to Obamacare. [8, 9] She voted for the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act.
[4] Several such votes have taken place in Michele Bachmann’s five years in Congress. If you check through the records at thomas.loc.gov, you will find this to be true.
Constitutional Separation of Powers
She is a cosponsor of the Enumerated Powers Act which would require Congress to specify the source of authority under the United States Constitution for the enactment of laws.
Drugs
Michele Bachmann is not a cosponsor of any bills to legalize, decriminalize, or reduce sentencing for drug offenses. [1-4] She did not cosponsor a bill introduced in the last two congresses that would allow federal tax money to be used to distribute syringes to drug addicts for the purpose of preventing the spread of AIDS and hepatitis. [5]
The Economy and Jobs
She has not cosponsored the National Right to Work Act which would prevent workers from being forced to join a union. [1, 2] (See also the Monetary Policy and Taxes, Spending, and Budget Issues sections.)
Education
She is not a cosponsor of Ron Paul’s Family Education Freedom Act [1] or his Education Improvement Tax Cut Act [2]. She voted for Head Start expansion which expanded federal funding for the education of pre-K kids and for more social service involvement in the lives of the targeted families. [3, 4]
Energy and the Environment
Michele Bachmann supports legislation to stop unnecessary regulations on offshore oil drilling and the building of refineries. [1-4] She voted “no” on Cap and Trade and cosponsored a bill to prevent the EPA from enacting it without the approval of Congress. [5, 6] She has supported many other bills to prevent the regulation of greenhouse gases. [7-10] She has introduced legislation to repeal the ban on incandescent light bulbs. [11]
Guns
Michele Bachmann has never voted for any bill to outlaw any type of weapon. She is a cosponsor of the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011. [1] But she did not cosponsor Ron Paul’s bill to make it legal for airline pilots to carry guns to prevent to terrorists attacks. [2]
Healthcare
Michele Bachmann voted no on Obamacare, voted for bills to repeal it [1,2,3] and several bills to repeal parts of it [e.g., 4,5]. She supports legislation to eliminate the exemption of federal officials from being exempted from Obamacare. She supports legislation to repeal the mandate portion of Obamacare. [6] She supports legislation to stop the implementation of Obamacare by defunding it. [7, 8] She supports a bill to allow Medicare recipients to elect (instead of regular Medicare benefits) to receive a voucher for a health savings account. [9] She supports ending federal excise taxes on medical devices. [10]
Illegal Immigration and Border Control
Michele Bachmann voted “no” on the DREAM act, which would have allowed some illegal immigrants rights reserved for citizens. [1, 2] She supports the No Social Security for Illegal Immigrants Act of 2011. [3] She supports a bill that would prevent state and local governments from protecting illegal aliens. [4]
Judicial Activism
Michele Bachmann is not a cosponsor of Ron Paul’s “We the People Act”. [1] She is not a cosponsor of legislation which would prevent foreign law from being used in federal courts. [2]
Marriage and Gay Rights
Michele Bachmann supports the Defense of Marriage Act [1] and the Marriage Protection Act [2-4]. She is a cosponsor of the resolution to adopt a Federal Marriage Amendment. [5]
She voted “no” on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) in 2007, which would have protected homosexuals from discrimination in hiring. [6]
On several occasions she has voted “no” on hate crimes legislation which would have protected homosexuals from “hate speech” [7-10] including one instance in which she voted against a Defense Appropriations bill which contained a hate crimes amendment. [11]
She voted to keep the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy which had prevented the openly gay from serving in the military. [12]
[1] Michele Bachmann was not in the congress at the time that the Defense of Marriage Act was enacted, but has on numerous occasions verbally indicated her opposition to gay marriage. Her support for DOMA is further indicated by her cosponsorship of the Marriage Protection Act, described in following note.
[2] The Marriage Protection Act is a bill which would make the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act not subject to judicial review.
[11] http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:hr2647: (find Division E in the enrolled bill. The roll call is at http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll770.xml).
Monetary Policy
Michele Bachmann has not cosponsored Ron Paul’s bill to abolish the Federal Reserve [1], but did cosponsor his bill to audit the Fed. [2] She voted against the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act [3, 4] which gave the Federal Reserve more power and is sponsoring a bill to repeal it. [5]
National Sovereignty
She did not cosponsor Ron Paul’s bill which would get the U.S.
Religious Freedom and Freedom of Speech
Michele Bachmann is a cosponsor of a bill to prevent the FCC from further regulating the internet. [1] She supports legislation to prevent the FCC from bringing back the “Fairness Doctrine”. [2]
Social Security
Michele Bachmann voted “no” on appropriating $250 for Social Security recipients contingent upon there being no cost of living increase. [1, 2]
Taxes, Spending, and Budget Issues
She voted against the 2010 extension of the Bush tax cuts [1-3]. She has sponsored legislation to end federal inheritance taxes and end the Alternative Minimum Tax on individuals. [4] She voted for the Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011. [5] This repealed the law which would have required you to file a 1099 every time you buy something for $600 or more from a small business. [6, 7]
Michele Bachmann voted “no” on Obama’s economic stimulus bills. [8, 9] She voted to end taxpayer funding of Presidential campaigns. [10] But she has not cosponsored the bill to cut congressional pay by 5%. [11] She has not cosponsored the bill that would require that unused portions of each congressman’s budget be used for deficit or debt reduction. [12] She has not cosponsored the bill (the End the Stimulus Advertisement Act) to ban the use of taxes for highway signs that indicate that a project is funded by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Obama’s Economic Stimulus Bill). [13]
She supports legislation to require that paying off the debt be given priority over all other obligations if the debt ceiling is reached. [14] She supports legislation which would require that unused money from the economic stimulus bill be used to pay off the National debt. [15] She supports legislation which would require that unused money from the economic stimulus bill be used to pay off the National debt. [16]
She always votes “no” on raising the debt ceiling. [17-19] She supports a balanced budget amendment. [20]
[1] I know that Michele Bachmann voted against this from word of mouth. The vote for this particular bill was done by voice vote and was not recorded in the archives of the Library of Congress because Congress passed a measure to suspend the rules regarding voting procedure for this bill. Below are a link to the text of the legislation and an alternative link which has the unofficial vote tally.
Veterans
Michele Bachmann introduced the Military Health Care Affordability Act to prohibit certain increases in fees for military health care. [1] She is a cosponsor of H.R. 186, which would expand benefits for retired and disabled veterans. [2]
War on Terrorism
Michele Bachmann voted against withdrawing troops from Iraq Pakistan Afghanistan Iran Libya
Michele Bachmann voted to extend the Patriot Act [10, 11] and voted for the Protect America Act. [12, 13] Michele Bachmann voted for the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Act of 2007 [14, 15], which would have combated adopting an “extremist belief system” (thus making even someone’s thoughts a crime). The bill warns that “violent radicalization” spans all religious beliefs (no exception is given for Christianity or Judaism). Michele Bachmann voted for the COPS bill, which was introduced by Anthony Weiner to continue the federalization of law enforcement funding. [16, 17] Michele Bachmann is not a cosponsor of Ron Paul’s American Traveler Dignity Act. [18] Michele Bachmann voted against allowing prisoners at Guantanamo Bay to be tried in U.S.
[5] http://www.votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=54675&type=category&category=47&go.x=13&go.y=12
[6] http://www.votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=54675&type=category&category=61&go.x=13&go.y=15
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