healthmedicinet

WASHINGTON — Political scandals have strange ways of causing collateral damage, and Republicans are hoping the furor over federal tax enforcers singling out conservative groups will ensnare their biggest target: President Barack Obama’s health care law.

There is a link, but it may only be coincidence. No one appears to have connected the dots factually, and it’s unclear whether they will.

The Internal Revenue Service has a major role in carrying out the health care law, because financial assistance to help the uninsured afford coverage will be funneled through the tax system. At the same time, the IRS is also responsible for penalties on individuals and employers who fail to comply with the law’s requirements.

But the really tantalizing connection is that a former head of the office that subjected tea-party groups seeking tax exemptions to tougher scrutiny is now running the tax agency’s division in charge of implementing the health care law.

That official apparently switched roles before internal alarm bells went off about the problem. But feed all that into today’s frenzied world of online speculation, and red-meat associations are irresistible.

In Saturday’s weekly GOP radio and Internet address, Maryland Rep. Andy Harris tried to make the connection.

“If we’ve learned anything this week, it’s that the IRS needs less power, not more,” Harris said. “As matter of fact, it turns out that the IRS official who oversaw the operation that’s under scrutiny for targeting conservatives is now in charge of the IRS’s Obamacare office. You can’t make this stuff up.”

Earlier in the week, debating the latest GOP bill to try to repeal the health care law, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., also reached for a link. Citing the IRS role in administering the law, she said: “Under Obamacare, the average American will pay more, they’ll get less, and now they have to worry that their government may punish them because of their beliefs.”

Nonsense, says Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., ranking Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, which oversees the IRS.

“There really isn’t a tie,” said Levin. “This is another effort by the Republicans to essentially try to score political points.”

The head of the IRS health care office, Sarah Hall Ingram, was in charge of the tax exempt division when agents first started improperly targeting conservative groups over their applications for tax-exempt status. The fallout has already led to the ouster of acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller, followed by the announcement that the current head of the division will retire.

But the IRS said Ingram was re-assigned to help the agency implement the health care law in December 2010, about six months before a Treasury inspector general’s report said her subordinate, the director of exempt organizations, learned about the targeting.

“There isn’t any evidence that Sarah Ingram had any inkling of the problems,” said Levin. In contrast, Levin continued, ousted commissioner Miller failed to adequately inform Congress after he learned.

At a congressional hearing on the IRS scandal Friday, Miller was grilled by Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio, about Ingram’s shift to running the IRS health care office.

Tiberi: “Why would you promote somebody to that position who was in charge of the exempt organization division, which certainly has had some controversy over the last couple years, under an investigation?

Miller: “Because she’s a superb civil servant, sir.”

Tiberi: “So she had nothing to do with this?”

Miller: “I wouldn’t imagine so.”

GOP lawmakers are smart to be looking for a connection, said Tom Davis, a former Republican congressman from Virginia, but must be careful not to overplay their hand.

The health care law “is 50-50 with the public on a good day,” said Davis. “You put that together with the IRS and it’s combustible. For Republicans, I think they need to go a little slower and get some facts in.”

“I don’t think it’s just a couple of underlings, but they don’t have any smoking gun yet,” he added.

Though it plays a crucial role in carrying out the health care law, the IRS is part of the back-office operation. IRS agents won’t be setting up health insurance markets, and they won’t have a say in which health plans people get to pick or what doctors they see.

However, agency officials will determine who is eligible for financial assistance under the law – and who must pay penalties.

The reason the IRS is involved in what’s essentially a social program is that lawmakers crafted the financial subsidies available under the health law as tax credits. The agency already administers another major social program, the earned income tax credit, which long ago surpassed welfare as the main source of government assistance for low-income families.

The IRS handles four major components of the health care law. The most important one is determining if individual Americans are entitled to new tax credits to help pay private insurance premiums. It’s a complex calculation.

Keyed to income on a sliding scale, the credits are available starting in 2014 to households making up to four times the federal poverty level, or about $94,000 for a family of four. Individuals or families are eligible if they don’t have affordable coverage on the job. But if you understate your income to get a bigger credit, you’ll owe more taxes next year.

The agency is also in charge of assessing penalties on people who ignore the law’s requirement to carry health insurance, which applies to virtually all Americans starting next year.

On the employer side, the IRS administers a tax credit to help small businesses with low-wage employees afford coverage, and it’s also in charge of imposing penalties on companies with 50 or more employees that don’t offer coverage.

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• ‘I Haven’t Had A Gaffe’

  Bachmann raised some eyebrows in November 2011 when she claimed she’d never “had a gaffe.”

  “As people are looking at the candidate that is the most conservative and the most consistent candidate, I’ve been that candidate. I haven’t had a gaffe or something that I’ve done that has caused me to fall in the polls,” Bachmann told Greta van Susteren in a a href=”http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/on-the-record/2011/11/18/bachmann-solyndral-scandal-criminal-and-gangster-government” target=”_hplink”Fox News interview/a.

  The claim was interesting considering her a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/27/michele-bachmann-john-wayne_n_885368.html” target=”_hplink”knack/a for a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/16/michele-bachmanns-elvis-birthday_n_928454.html” target=”_hplink”making/a a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/15/michele-bachmann-revolutionary-war-gaffe_n_836025.html” target=”_hplink”misstatements/a.

• President Of Iran A ‘Hater’

  During a campaign stop in Iowa, Bachmann responded to accusations from Ron Paul that she “hates Muslims.”

  “I don’t hate Muslims,” Bachman said. “I love the American people. And as president of United States, my goal would be to keep the American people safe, free and sovereign.”

  “The haters are the president of Iran,” she said, referring to Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. “He stated unequivocally that given a nuclear weapons he will use that weapon to wipe Israel off the map, and he’s willing to use it against the United States of America.”

• HPV Claims

  Early in the Republican presidential race, Bachmann attacked rival Rick Perry for his 2007 executive order mandating that young girls receive the vaccine against HPV, a sexually transmitted disease that is the leading cause of cervical cancer.

  She even made the claim that the vaccine could cause mental retardation. However, she a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/22/michele-bachmann-rick-perry-hpv-vaccine_n_977139.html” target=”_hplink”distanced herself/a from the statement after receiving criticism from medical professionals who believe the vaccine is very safe.

  “I didn’t make that claim, nor did I make that statement,” Bachmann said. “Immediately after a debate a mother came up to me, and she was visibly shaken and heartbroken because of what her daughter had gone through. I only related what her story was.”

• Many Scientists Believe In Intelligent Design

  In October of 2006, before Bachmann emerged as a superstar of the conservative movement, the Minnesota congresswoman raised eyebrows when she a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Damah0KH-Cofeature=player_embedded” target=”_hplink”suggested/a that a sizable portion of the scientific community discredits the theory of evolution.

  Bachmann a href=”http://theweek.com/article/index/102109/Top_ten_Michele_Bachmann_moments” target=”_hplink”said/a, “There are hundreds and hundreds of scientists, many of them holding Nobel Prizes, who believe in intelligent design.”

  More recently, Bachmann a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/17/michele-bachmann-intelligent-design-evolution_n_879618.html” target=”_hplink”discussed/a her views on the matter at this year’s Republican Leadership Conference.

  “I support intelligent design,” she told reporters at the conservative gathering, a href=”http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/06/17/bachmann-schools-should-teach-intelligent-design/” target=”_hplink”according/a to CNN. “What I support is putting all science on the table and then letting students decide. I don’t think it’s a good idea for government to come down on one side of scientific issue or another, when there is reasonable doubt on both sides.”

• Warning Of ‘Sex Clinics’

  During the long road to health care reform in the fall of 2009, Bachmann took to the House floor to warn members of congress that a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/01/bachmann-sex-clinics-will_n_306292.html” target=”_hplink””sex clinics”/a could result from passing legislation that was under debate at the time.

  The Tea Party favorite suggested that if reform were to pass, schools might begin offering abortions to students given her interpretation that the measure was designed to bring Planned Parenthood into educational facilities:

  blockquoteThe bill goes on to say what’s going to go on — comprehensive primary health services, physicals, treatment of minor acute medical conditions, referrals to follow-up for specialty care — is that abortion? Does that mean that someone’s 13 year-old daughter could walk into a sex clinic, have a pregnancy test done, be taken away to the local Planned Parenthood abortion clinic, have their abortion, be back and go home on the school bus that night? Mom and dad are never the wiser./blockquote

  Section 2511 of the health care bill referred to by Bachmann, makes no mention of abortion and stipulates:

  blockquote(i) “SBHC services will be provides in accordance with Federal, State, and local laws governing– (I) obtaining parental or guardian consent; and (II) patient privacy and student records, including section 264 of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and section 444 of the General Education Provision Act;/blockquote

  The nonpartisan PolitiFact rated Bachmann’s statement a href=”http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/aug/07/liberty-counsel/school-health-clinics-would-not-provide-abortions/” target=”_hplink”a “Pants On Fire” falsehood./a

  blockquoteWe see no language in the three main versions of the bill that would allow school-based clinics, which have a long history of providing basic health services to underprivileged students, to provide abortions. Nor would the clinics even be new they have been around for three decades. So we rate the claim Pants on Fire!/blockquote

  Nevertheless, Bachmann within weeks a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/08/bachmann-warns-once-again_n_314490.html” target=”_hplink”went on to issue the same warning /aonce again.

• ‘A Weapon Of Mass Destruction’

  Bachmann a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/20/michele-bachmann-tax-code_n_825694.html” target=”_hplink”criticized/a the country’s current tax code as “a weapon of mass destruction” in a speech she delivered to local Republican activists in South Carolina back in February, the emSpartanburg Herald-Journal/em a href=”http://www.goupstate.com/article/20110220/ARTICLES/102201031/1083/ARTICLES?p=1tc=pg” target=”_hplink”reported/a at the time.

  According to the local outlet, the Tea Party favorite called for the system to be abolished. “We need a radically different system,” she stressed to a crowd of nearly 200 guests.

• The ‘LensCrafters Of Big Abortion’

  After Bachmann derided Planned Parenthood as “the LensCrafters of big abortion” earlier this year, it became a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/13/michele-bachmann-lenscrafters_n_848896.html” target=”_hplink”clear/a that the Tea Party darling’s comparison a href=”http://www.rollcall.com/issues/56_110/-204886-1.html” target=”_hplink”left/a the prescription eyewear company less than pleased.

  Roll Call a href=”http://www.rollcall.com/issues/56_110/-204886-1.html” target=”_hplink”reported/a in April of this year:

  blockquoteBut LensCrafters didn’t like the comparison. A company spokeswoman tells HOH that it contacted Bachmann’s office Tuesday asking that she stop using its name. “She’s using our name without our knowledge or permission,” says Julie Maslov, communications director for Luxottica Retail, LensCrafters’ parent company.

  She didn’t cite any legalese but rather says that the request was made “in the spirit of the fact that we have nothing to do with these parties or the debate.”/blockquote

  According to emRoll Call/em, a spokesman for Bachmann said the congresswoman would avoid referencing LensCrafters going forward, calling the request “perfectly understandable.”

• Beware Of ‘Gangster Government’

  During an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” back in March, Bachmann a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/06/michele-bachmann-obama-ne_n_831986.html” target=”_hplink”addressed/a an eyebrow-raising allegation she had previously made against the Obama administration.

  “I don’t take back my statements on gangster government,” she said, referring to a a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/02/bachmann-health-care-refo_n_446576.html” target=”_hplink”charge/a she made during the debate over health care reform. “I think that there have been actions taken by the government that are corrupt.”

  ema href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/06/michele-bachmann-obama-ne_n_831986.html” target=”_hplink”Click here/a to read more about what the conservative favorite had to say./em

• Getting Lei’d

  HuffPost’s Jason Linkins a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/11/the-craziest-examples-of_n_354333.html?slidenumber=yetcoEHNVlc%3Dslideshow#slide_image” target=”_hplink”reported/a in November of 2009:

  blockquoteMinnesota Republican Michele Bachmann made the acquaintance of some hula dancing Teabaggers from Hawaii, and they brought her a lei, which Bachmann herself could obtain at the airport in Hawaii, were it not for the fact that she believes planes cannot fly over water without the use of witchcraft. Anyway, a href=”http://minnesotaindependent.com/49288/bachmann-lei-health-care-steve-israel-holocaust” target=”_hplink”she told Congress/a, “I’m reminded that the one who created this lei also created our freedom. Are we so insensible to the high cost our forebearers paid to purchase our freedom?” So, the Hawaiian Bureau of Tourism created our freedom? I guess this is not supposed to make much sense./blockquote

• Her Own State Of The Union Response

  Bachmann a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/25/michele-bachmann-state-of-union-response_n_813972.html” target=”_hplink”delivered her own rebuttal/a to President Barack Obama’s a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/25/state-of-the-union-2011-s_n_813477.html” target=”_hplink”State of the Union address/a back in January despite a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/25/paul-ryan-state-of-the-un_n_813985.html” target=”_hplink”Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.)/a being tapped to give the official Republican response.

  Republican party leaders a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/24/michele-bachmann-state-of-the-union_n_813362.html” target=”_hplink”downplayed/a the move from Bachmann at the time.

  CNN was the only cable network to carry the Tea Party favorite’s speech, but that didn’t stop Bachmann from landing in the headlines with her remarks.

  One video capturing Bachmann’s response showed her appearing to look off to the side of the camera while speaking. The emMinneapolis Star Tribune/em a href=”http://www.startribune.com/politics/blogs/114802314.html” target=”_hplink”reported/a at the time:

  blockquoteThe reason, it appears, is that Bachmann delivered her speech to TeaPartyHD’s camera, which had the teleprompter she used. But most of the world — well, nation — saw the footage shot by network cameras that were allowed to video the speech.
  /blockquote

  Luckily for Bachmann, TeaPartyHD, which produced the video, a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/28/michele-bachmann-response-video_n_815622.html” target=”_hplink”made moves to straighten out the footage/a after it began to stir buzz.

• Financial Reform = Mussolini-Style Fascism?

  During an online town hall forum in May of last year, Bachmann suggested that proposed financial regulatory reform legislation was reminiscent of Italy under the rule of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.

  The Minnesota Independent a href=”http://minnesotaindependent.com/58887/bachmann-financial-reform-is-like-mussolinis-italy” target=”_hplink”relays/a what Bachmann had to say at the time:

  blockquote”Let’s remember really what this is. This has a lot in common with Italy in the 1930s and they way Italy dealt with economics,” she said. “It still continues private ownership of business but government is in control.”

  She continued, “So government control of the private business, while it’s private ownership, that’s still at the end of the day the federal government virtually having a say over private business. We lose freedoms; we lose economic competitiveness.”

  “And don’t forget,” she added, “Italy is in tough shape financially, and that’s not what we want for the United States.”/blockquote

• ‘I Took Karate, I’m Dangerous’

  Bachmann a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/11/michele-bachmann-taunts-o_n_609133.html” target=”_hplink”said/a that she could take out President Obama if she were ever caught in the mind-boggling and improbable scenario of engaging the nation’s leader in a physical fight in an a href=”http://biggovernment.com/bshapiro/2010/06/10/bachmann-obama-worst-president-in-united-states-history/” target=”_hplink”interview/a with BigGovernment.com last year.

  blockquotestrongSHAPIRO/strong: I want to ask you, speaking of his violent language, and he’s been brutal on BP, talking about putting his boot on the throat of BP, talking about how he wants to go down there and kick someone’s ass — frankly, Michele, I think you could take President Obama, off the record.

  strongBACHMANN:/strong Hey, I took karate when I was 17 years old, I am dangerous./blockquote

• Mangling Revolutionary History

  Back in March, Bachmann told a group of local New Hampshire Republicans, “You’re the state where the shot was heard around the world in Lexington and Concord.” However, the first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired in Massachusetts, not the Granite State.

  The AP a href=”http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110313/ap_on_re_us/us_bachmann_nh_8? target=”_hplink”reported/a at the time Bachmann made the comments in question:

  blockquoteThough Bachmann probably wasn’t the first to confuse Concord, N.H., with Concord, Mass., her mistake was striking given her roots in the tea party movement, which takes its name from the dumping of tea into Boston Harbor by angry American colonists in December 1773, 16 months before the Battle of Lexington Green.
  /blockquote

  “I made a mistake; I should’ve said Massachusetts rather than New Hampshire,” Bachmann a href=”http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/03/12/bachmann_mangles_revolutionary_history_in_nh_109213.html” target=”_hplink”said/a amid scrutiny on the heels of a href=”http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/03/12/bachmann_mangles_revolutionary_history_in_nh_109213.html” target=”_hplink”making the remarks/a. “We all know that there’s a double standard in the media.”

• The Great Census Conspiracy Theory

  HuffPost’s Jason Linkins a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/26/michele-bachmanns-census_n_221427.html” target=”_hplink”reported/a in the summer of 2009:

  blockquotea href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/25/bachmann-compares-census_n_221081.html” target=”_hplink”Michele Bachmann has drawn a line in the sand/a, and will not fill out the Census, and no one really cares because who in America really wants to see government resources allocated to the Bachmann demographic, anyway? Nevertheless, Bachmann is the Neda Agha Soltan of fighting ACORN and the Census. “Why does the government need our phone numbers?” complains Bachmann, making me wonder if she plans on robo-calling her constituents come re-election time. You know I’ll be watching for that!

  Anyway, last summer, Michele Bachmann went on the Glenn Beck Common Sense Comedy Hour to talk about all of this. Understandably, Bachmann is concerned with whether the government should know about its citizens’ “mental stability.” And here is one of Bachmann’s amazing insights:

  blockquoteBACHMANN: You know the question that’s not on this survey, Glenn? “Are you a U.S. citizen?” This would be your perfect opportunity to find out how many illegal aliens are in the United States./blockquote

  Of course! That is precisely the way this mystery should be penetrated! I can see it now!

  blockquoteCENSUS TAKER: Okay, next question…are you a U.S. Citizen?

  ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT: RATS! You caught me!

  CENSUS TAKER: I shall now deport you, with my ACORN magicks!

  ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT: And to think I almost got away with it!/blockquote

  And that’s the incredibly true story of how Mitt Romney had to start paying his gardeners actual money!

  But here’s the revelatory part of Bachmann’s conversation: It appears that there actually is a point at which you can even out-bonkers Glenn Beck! Watch as the video gets to about the two-minute mark. That’s when Bachmann starts up her “OMGZ! THE INTERNMENT CAMPZ” spiel. Beck starts shaking his head in disbelief, and then just shuts her down, mid-thought! Is that a bridge too far for Glenn Beck, who runs the most realistic Doom Room in Cable news? Maybe! Of course, I can’t help but notice that Beck set Bachmann up perfectly to proffer that answer./blockquote

• Obama ‘Very Anti-American’

  HuffPost’s Sam Stein a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/17/gop-rep-channels-mccarthy_n_135735.html” target=”_hplink”reported/a back in 2008:

  blockquoteIn a television appearance that outraged Democrats are already describing as Joseph McCarthy politics, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann claimed in October of 2008 that Barack Obama and his wife Michelle held anti-American views and couldn’t be trusted in the White House. She even called for the major newspapers of the country to investigate other members of Congress to “find out if they are pro-America or anti-America.”

  Appearing on MSNBC’s Hardball, Bachmann went well off the reservation when it comes to leveling political charges against the Democratic nominee.

  “If we look at the collection of friends that Barack Obama has had in his life,” she said, “it calls into question what Barack Obama’s true beliefs and values and thoughts are. His attitudes, values, and beliefs with Jeremiah Wright on his view of the United States…is negative; Bill Ayers, his negative view of the United States. We have seen one friend after another call into question his judgment — but also, what it is that Barack Obama really believes?”

  Goaded by a Chris Matthews to explain exactly what she was talking about (at one point Bachmann seemed to imply that liberalism was anti-Americanism), the congresswoman waded deeper into the mud.

  “Remember it was Michele Obama who said she is only recently proud of her country and so these are very anti-American views,” she said. “That’s not the way that most Americans feel about our country. Most Americans are wild about America and they are very concerned to have a president who doesn’t share those values.”

  Matthews later pressed her to name a single member of Congress other than Obama who she thought was anti-American. Bachmann, who initially wouldn’t budge, called for a major “expose” into the matter.

  “What I would say is that the news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look. I wish they would. I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out if they are pro-America or anti-America,” she said./blockquote

• Obama Turning U.S. Into ‘Nation Of Slaves’

  In July of last year, Bachmann accused the Obama administration of “turning our country into a nation of slaves.”

  The Colorado Independent a href=”http://coloradoindependent.com/57145/bachmann-calls-for-constitutional-conservative-takeover-to-free-nation-of-slaves” target=”_hplink”relays/a what Bachmann had to say while speaking at an event in Denver:

  blockquote”‘We are determined to live free or not at all. And we are resolved that posterity shall never reproach us with having brought slaves into the world,’” Bachmann read from founding father John Jay , ending her reading with the statement, “We will talk a little bit about what has transpired in the last 18 months and would we count what has transpired into turning our country into a nation of slaves.”

  She reiterated her concern more forcefully toward the end of the program./blockquote

• ‘Re-Education Camps For Young People’

  HuffPost’s Sam Stein a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/06/bachmann-obama-wants-re-e_n_183552.html” target=”_hplink”reported/a in April of 2009:

  blockquoteAppearing on Minnesota radio station KTLK-AM, (h/t a href=”http://minnesotaindependent.com/31237/bachmann-reedcuation-camps” target=”_hplink”Minnesota Independent/a) the Republican Bachmann expressed her concern that White House was trying to put in place “re-education camps for young people, where young people have to go and get trained in a philosophy that the government puts forward.” Furthering the Obama-as-autocrat theme, Bachmann said the youngsters would “then they have to go to work in some of these politically correct forums.”

  The launching point of Bachmann’s remarks was the widely popular and bipartisan Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which would expand national community service programs from 75,000 positions to 250,000.

  “It’s under the guise of — quote — volunteerism. But it’s not volunteers at all. It’s paying people to do work on behalf of government,” said the Minnesota Republican. “I believe that there is a very strong chance that we will see that young people will be put into mandatory service. And the real concerns is that there are provisions for what I would call re-education camps for young people, where young people have to go and get trained in a philosophy that the government puts forward and then they have to go to work in some of these politically correct forums.”/blockquote

• The ‘Global Currency’ Threat

  Bachmann issued a warning in March of 2009 on her fear that the United States might wind up a href=”http://bachmann.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=116036? target=”_hplink”abandoning/a “the dollar for a multinational currency.”

  A a href=”http://bachmann.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=116036? target=”_hplink”press release/a put out by the Tea Party darling read:

  blockquote”Yesterday, during a Financial Services Committee hearing, I asked Secretary Geithner if he would denounce efforts to move towards a global currency and he answered unequivocally that he would,” Bachmann said in the March 25, 2009 news release . “And President Obama gave the nation the same assurances. But just a day later, Secretary Geithner has left the option on the table. I want to know which it is.”/blockquote

  The Republican congresswoman also a href=”http://theweek.com/article/index/102109/Top_ten_Michele_Bachmann_moments” target=”_hplink”expressed/a her concerns during an appearance on Fox News: “I’m very concerned about the international moves they’re making, particularly … moving the United States off the dollar and onto a global currency, like Russia and China are calling for.”

  Politifact rated Bachmann’s statement a href=”http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/apr/01/michele-bachmann/defending-dollar-bachmann-distorts-geithners-comme/” target=”_hplink””false.”/a

• Flubbing Basic Geography

  During the CNN Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas, Michele Bachmann flubbed some basic geography while criticizing the Obama administration’s foreign policy, a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/18/michele-bachmann-libya-africa_n_1018814.html” target=”_hplink”HuffPost’s Amanda Terkel reported/a.

  “Now with the president, he put us in Libya. He is now putting us in Africa,” Bahmann said during the debate in October. Libya is, of course, in Africa.