Bachmann Headlines Mahaska County Republican Fundraiser

Presidential Candidate Michele Bachmann arrives for her speech Saturday night at William Penn University

Oskaloosa, Iowa – With a crowd of around 200, Presidential Candidate, and one of the front runners for the Republican nomination to run against President Barack Obama in the 2012 election, made an appearance on the campus of William Penn University. Michele Bachmann arrived by bus to the campus of William Penn University and made the quick climb up the stairs to the third floor of the Atkins Student Union, where she was introduced by State Representative Betty De Boef.

The video of her speech in it’s entirety is located at the end of this story.

Bachmann didn’t take long in starting to paint the analogy of Jimmy Carter and his Presidency and to those of today. Bachmann pointed towards a turn around in the country that happened under Reagan during the early 1980’s.

Bachmann went on to explain the hardships when she was growing up after her parents divorced shortly after moving to Minnesota from the Waterloo area. “When they were divorced, our family went to below poverty overnight.” She went on to speak about how they coped with surviving as a family then. “My mother had been a full time homemaker, and she went out into the workforce, she did the very best she could, she got a job, she made $4,800 a year and we did with what we had, but we just couldn’t make it on that. So all of the kids got jobs. My brothers delivered papers. I also got a job babysitting. I made 50 cents an hour. That was big money back then. And we had to help, and it was one of the greatest life lessons,” Bachmann said.

Bachmann also spoke about her time as a tax lawyer. “When I was working as a tax lawyer I saw first hand up close and personal how devastating high taxes are on farmers and individuals and businesses and families. And I saw how impossible this tax code is. You know today the tax code is approximately 3.8 million words. Now how do you read that before you fill out your tax form on April 15th,” Bachmann also recounted a time in which she was having a problem with a small part of the code. She described it at “about 14 words in the tax code.”

Michele Bachmann speaks with supporters Saturday night in Oskaloosa, Iowa

After being rerouted about 19 times to different people in Washington, Bachmann recounted her conversation. “I finally got to the right person. We had our conversation. They weren’t going to yield. They were in Washington and they were a bureaucrat and when all was said and done, I put the phone back down on the cradle, that’s back in the days when you use to do that, I swiveled around in my chair and looked out the window and I thought ‘the average taxpayer doesn’t have a chance against a big phalanx of bureaucrats like Washington D.C.,’ and I saw how unyielding this tax code is.”

Bachmann further explained that she believes the tax code is killing job, and preventing people from being able do what they know how to do, by putting in their labor and a little bit of money “to start something”.

Bachmann also recounted an instance when she traveled Minnesota speaking out against the Goals 200 and School To Work Programs. “I went all over the state and explained to people what the problems were in our public schools. That it wasn’t your local teacher’s fault, it was the fact that the Federal Government came in and gave the schools a little bit of money but with a whole lot of rules and regulation and mandates. All of a sudden the schools had to change everything they were doing successfully and do this nonsense the Federal Government wanted them to do. It was a disaster. It was bringing test scores down as a result of it. After 5 years, Minnesota became the only state in the nation at that time to repeal this effort, because after I would go around the state explained to people what was happening with their children two things would happen. Parents would first of all say, not with my kid you don’t, and number two, where’s my pitchfork how do I sign up to get rid of this program.”

Michele Bachmann speaks with supporters Saturday night in Oskaloosa, Iowa

Bachmann also offered her thoughts on the repeal of the Heatlh Care Reform meausre. “We have in my estimation one chance to kill Obamacare, and that’s in 2012. This is not going to be easy. Even though we have the American people with us, it is not going to be easy. Why? It’s already law today. It’s already being implemented. Hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars are being shipped all over the country today to implement this very bad bill,” Bachmann said.

In reference to the Debt Ceiling talks, Bachmann had this to say about Obama’s plan. “There’s no plan, have you noticed that? Here he is telling us it’s fiscal Armageddon, we’re coming up to August 2nd, and that’s the day supposedly everything is going to fall apart and the guy has zero plan. Because his plan is we keep spending more, we keep borrowing more, we keep adding to the debt more. What’s the one thing he’s unwilling to do? Cut. Oh he talks about cuts. When are those cuts? Maybe 10 years from now, when are the tax increases, oh like right now.”

Bachmann also spoke about the bailouts and the borrowing of 1 trillion dollars to pay for it. She quotes Barack Obama “‘We will not see unemployment go above 8 percent.’ Do you remember that? Well hows that working out. We’re at 9.2 percent unemployment and it doesn’t look like it’s coming down anytime soon. This president has a big fat red ‘F’ on his economic report card. That’s why I know without a shadow of a doubt a one term president.”

Bachmann, who sits on the House Select Committee on Intelligence, talked about threats against the US. “We deal with the Nations classified secrets. We see every day the threats that the United States faces both within our borders and for the United States coming from outside our borders. One thing you need to know that’s very grave and very sobering, that there are people who wake up every single day thinking about how they can kill American’s. We have an administration right now, President Obama, who has said when it comes to foreign policy, he intends to lead from behind. Have you ever heard a President of the United States say they are going to lead from behind? That’s Barack Obama. I’m here to tell you as Commander in Chief, I fully intend to lead from the front. I will not lead from behind.”

Bachmann was talking about the economic policies that had helped Reagan and the US win the Cold War. “Is the world better off because of what Reagan did to bring us prosperity? Without a shadow of a doubt. Is the world better off because the United States won effectively the Cold War? Without a shadow of a doubt. Will the world be better off I ask you, if China becomes the economic powerhouse of the world? I say not. I say the world is far better off with the United States of America as the economic powerhouse of the world. That’s what we would remain under a Bachmann Presidency.”

Bachmann spoke about the bailouts and the borrowing of 1 trillion dollars to pay for it. She quotes Barack Obama “We will not see unemployment go above 8 percent you remember that? Well hows that working out we‘re at 9.2 percent unemployment and it doesn’t look like it’s coming down anytime soon. This president has a big fat red F on his economic report card. That’s why I know without a shadow of a doubt a one term president.”

“The Department of Education came in the last 1970’s. Jimmy Carter put that into effect, and all we have seen is more mandates, government control and we’re seeing test scores continue to slide. We would be far better of if we would tell all the local school districts the federal money your use to now, you’ll be getting it, but it will be diminishing over the next couple of years until we zero it out. Because what I will do is put forward a bill to repeal all of the federal rules and regulations of the Department of Education, we will repeal all of the mandates, it will all be gone, because the states do a great job on their own.” is a plan being pushed by Bachmann to return control of the schools to the more local setting. Shut out the lights, lock the doors and we’ll shut down the Federal Department of Education.” The Department of Education is not the only department that would be on the chopping block under a Bachmann Administration.

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann took questions from the media before departing Oskaloosa, Iowa on July 23, 2011

Bachmann was kind enough to take a question from Osky News directly before departing Oskaloosa. I wanted  to know if she felt that she as Christian woman was facing tougher opposition than say a man who’s conservative or even a Democrat?

“Well, when we got into this process of running for the Presidency of the United States, we knew that it would be very strong situation where we have to come in and make the best case that we can, and so far we think it’s been going very well. Wonderful reception all across Iowa, I think my message of turning the economy around, I’ve got the background and experience in the private sector to do it. Also, my experience in job creation, my husband and I started a successful company and the face that people understand that I have been on the front lines on Obamacare, to repeal Obamacare, and I’m going to continue that effort and that fight. People know that I mean what I say, and I say what I mean, and they can count on me, and that’s what I’m going to bring into the White House is the voice of people like I heard here tonight in Oskaloosa to the White House where it hasn’t been heard for a long time.”