It's March and you know what that means: wet, soggy weather, an end-of-winter snowstorm, and the state hockey tournament.
Here at ABM, we like to use March to look back at the most outrageous, ridiculous things conservatives have done in the last year in our March Badness tournament.
But just like your March Madness bracket predictions can't get started until the NCAA selection committee releases the teams that will participate in the big dance, our March Badness bracket can't get started until we know what you think was the worst of the worst from conservatives this year.
Join the selection committee and nominate the worst conservatives of the year:
Once we get your selections, we'll get the bracket set up, and vote for the worst of the worst every week until we have a new March Badness champion. If you play along with us, you have a chance to win a copy of ProgressNow Founder Michael Huttner's book 50 Ways You Can Help Obama Change America and Brave New Films 5th Anniversary 10-DVD Collection, a box set that includes Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism, Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price, and Uncovered: The Truth Behind the War in Iraq.
Last year one of Michele Bachmann's many bizarre statements took home the title after outlasting Norm Coleman's marathon recount legal challenge, an impressive "victory."
Did you see something happen this year that was worse than that? Let us know.
Next week, we will unveil the bracket and begin voting to see what was the worst of the worst. One lucky person will pick up a copy of 50 Ways You Can Help Obama Change America and 10 must-watch DVDs for progressive activists.
In a year full of tea baggers and plenty of Bachmann word vomit, conservatives hit a new low. So think back to those stories that really put the bad in badness, and send them our way.
Our friends over at Media Matters Action Network put together a highlight reel from yesterday's rally against health insurance reform. Check it out below:
With a vote on health care legislation in the House expected this weekend, Organzing for America is encouraging folks to call their members of Congress in support of reform. If you haven't called before, call now. If you've called before, call again and encourage your friends to join you.
Families USA released a report today that has hit the Star Tribune on the 45,000+ Minnesotans that have now lost their health insurance by losing their jobs. This is quite a scary number, and it certainly points to the need to reform our broken insurance system. However, there is a line in the Star Tribune story on this report that would almost slip by you if you weren't careful. It both points to the need for health insurance reform AND the positive effects of a program designed to take care of those who need it the most...lets see if we can pick it out:
The states with the biggest losses are California (661,600), Texas (396,900), Florida (297,600), New York (253,100) and North Carolina (184,700). By contrast, the number of uninsured children stayed stable due to public coverage for children through Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program.
Find it? Right after listing the hundreds of thousands of people who are newly uninsured, the story notes that children in these families have not suffered the same fate. The reason? Super socialist/evil/mean government run health insurance! This is not really surprising for supporters, that is why it was developed and passed in the first place. However on a political level, with regards to the current reform effort, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), the government program that uses tobacco taxes to pay for health care for poor and working poor children (in brief), is particularly useful for us to look at, because this program was just enhanced and expanded at the start of this year after George W Bush and Republicans had blocked and watered down parts of the legislation in 2007. Despite this program's obvious success and the essential service it provides, the program has been hammered with the same attacks being shouted against President Obama's current reform efforts.
Just take a look at some of the crazy conservative Republicans like Michele Bachmann have talked about this program, which is now preventing millions of children from suffering the same fate as their parents in going uninsured, I promise you'll recognize a few:
"[B]ecause now President Obama even voted for the SCHIP bill, which we all know will now for the first time swing the door wide open for illegal aliens. I know one thing: The people in my district are not interested in paying for the health care for illegal aliens that are coming across our border to be yet one more magnet to bring people in that should come here legally." (Michele Bachmann, from Minnesota Independent, 3/18/09)
Rep. King of Iowa introduced a new acronym for the program. He called it the, "“Socialized Clinton-style Hillarycare for Illegals and their Parents” (Think Progress, 10/18/07)
Rep. Tom Feeney of Florida had his own little acronym, "Socialized, Cuba-style Health care for Illegals and their Parents" (Think Progress, 10/18/07)
Both Bachmann and John Kline voted against this program a grand total of six times.
Yet none of these Glen Beck styled conspiracies about coverage for non-citizens, socialism running around lawless, a government takeover and the end of the private insurance market have come true. What has happened, though, is that millions of children are now getting access to the care that they need, staying out of expensive emergency room visits keeping costs down for everyone, and allowing their parents to sleep a little easier at night. Something that isn't happening for adults because of the powerful interests that have blocked reform in the past are gearing up to fight yet again.
The point is, folks, that all of the theatrics about the current reform effort are just the same old sick scam that conservative Republicans have trotted out against every reform effort that may dip in to insurance company profits, including successful ones like the State Children's Health Insurance Program. We need to extend the same access to all people that we fought so hard for to give to our children. Head over to our health care website and learn about past attempts to distract from and destroy reform, and then share it with your friends. If you're more the phone type, make a call to your legislator about the urgent need for real health insurance reform for all Americans.
Star Tribune columnist Jon Tevlin confirmed what the Dump Bachmann blog suspected a month ago: that the Harrison Bachmann who joined Teach for America is in fact Rep. Michele Bachmann’s son. In April, Bachmann went on the Sue Jeffers radio show to demonize the expansion of AmeriCorps (Teach for America is one of its programs):
"[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. There are provisions for what I would call re-education camps for young people, where young people get trained in the philosophy the government puts forward and then they have to go work in these politically correct forums.
"As a parent, I would have a very, very difficult time seeing my children do this."
Well, the last application deadline was in February and successful candidates were notified within two months. So when Rep. Bachmann went on the air with her negative comments, she certainly would have known that Harrison had applied for Teach for America, if not that he had been accepted. It seems Bachmann has no choice but to see her child do this, as he obviously does not share her concerns.
This is just another example of Michele Bachmann’s nonsense. For more on that, watch the ABM ad below:
Ironically, this will mark the first year that Teach for America will be in Minnesota. According to WCCO, Minnesota has one of the highest achievement gaps in the country, which is why TFA will be expanding into the Twin Cities. Teach for America operates in 34 communities across the country. Although TFA would not disclose where Harrison Bachmann would be teaching, how delicious would it be if he were teaching right here in Minnesota? To learn more about Teach for America head over to their website.
Not only has Bachmann’s son joined the government’s brainwashing program, but TPMDC wonders whether she has an even greater disaster on her hands: the possibility that one of her children will now completely fill out the family’s Census form.
Before recessing for August, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, a key committee, approved health care legislation that could mean nearly universal coverage and a public option. Although there’s still a lot of negotiating and debating to go before we get comprehensive health care reform, it’s remarkable that health reformers are unified in their push for change. The New York Times suggests that all the Congressional debating has, perhaps, overshadowed some areas where there is consensus.
“There is wide agreement on the two elements of the legislation that the public cares about most: insurance market reforms and the expansion of coverage, with subsidies,” said Drew E. Altman, the president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which focuses on health policy.
Details of the major House and Senate bills differ, but most employers would have to provide insurance or contribute to the cost of coverage for employees, with exceptions for some small businesses…
The major bills offer the promise of more affordable insurance for people who are uninsured, including those with chronic illnesses. Under the legislation, it might be easier for people to switch jobs because they would not have to stay in less desirable jobs just to retain health insurance. The bills promise relief to people with huge out-of-pocket health costs and would eliminate co-payments for many preventive services.
With lawmakers leaving Washington during the recess to reconnect with constituents, August is going to be a key battleground for health care reform. So many Americans are still waiting for health care reform that can bring down their costs and increase access to quality health care and stalling reform has very real consequences for the American public. Media Matters Action Network reports that over 220,000 Americans will lose their health coverage while Congress is in recess, including 2,150 Minnesotans.
Health insurance companies will take these five weeks to combat and stall reform. Their latest tactic has been to fund Republican members of Congress, including some Minnesotan members, according to the Star Tribune. They have spent over $40 million on current members of Congress and half a billion dollars lobbying during the last decade. Those members include some Minnesotans.
Sixth District Rep. Michele Bachmann, an outspoken foe of a government insurance option, is among the top recipients this year in the entire U.S. House. Third District Rep. Erik Paulsen and Second District Rep. John Kline also ranked high in contributions received.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, only seven of the 435 members of the U.S. House rank higher this year in campaign contributions from donors within the insurance industry than Bachmann.
Reform combatants are ready to do everything they can during the August recess to stall reform, which means everyone who believes that Americans deserve quality, affordable health care for everyone need to speak out more than ever. Our members of Congress are leaving Washington, ready to listen to their constituents. Make sure you tell your members of Congress that America needs health care reform. Take action in August by attending events in your area with your members of Congress, so by the time they reconvene, they are as ready as the American people to pass health care reform.
Little over a week has passed since Al Franken was sworn in as Minnesota's second senator, but he's already hit the ground running. In addition to launching a 3-week "listening tour" which will take members of his staff to all 66 of Minnesota's counties, Senator Franken is a member of the Judiciary Committee that is currently holding hearings on Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to fill the open seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.
On the legislative front, Senator Franken announced last week that his support for the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill which would allow workers to more easily form unions. And yesterday, he signed on to the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which extends resources to law enforcement prosecuting hate crimes and federal protections to victims targeted because of gender sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.
The bill has already passed the House, but during debate this spring there was much controversy on the House floor when North Carolina Rep. Virginia Foxx said that it was a "hoax" that Shepard was murdered because he was gay.
Said Franken: "The overwhelming majority of Americans know that these protections are long overdue," said Sen. Franken. "No American should suffer because of their gender or sexual orientation, and no law enforcement official should be denied the necessary resources to prosecute their case. Minnesotans have a strong sense of justice, and no tolerance for hate. It’s time our laws reflect our convictions."
In 2007, there were 7,621 single-bias hate crimes that involved 8,999 offenses. The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act would simply extend the existing federal hate crimes law to include sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected groups and provide law enforcement the same resources to investigate and prosecute these violent crimes.
Three Republican members of Congress have written a letter to Michelle Bachmann calling her boycott of the census "illogical, illegal, and not in the best interest of our country."
Every elected representative in this country should feel a responsibility to encourage full participation in the census. To do otherwise is to advocate for a smaller share of federal funding for our constituents. Boycotting the constitutionally-mandated census is illogical, illegal and not in the best interest of our country.
According to Roll Call, the three Republicans "approached Bachmann privately over the past few weeks and asked her to stop the boycott" and “decided to go public because Bachmann appeared unfazed by their request." In addition to meetings with her colleagues, Bachmann has already been briefed by Census officials, who have been trying to understand the source of her fear-mongering.
If she's not up to the task of filling out her own census form, as required by law, she can always turn to the folks over at Third Coast Reasearch, who have taken it upon themselves to fill out the form for her using information in the public domain. Although they were able to find answers to a majority of the census questions, they couldn't determine whether Bachmann is selling agricultural products out of her home, the state of her mental health, the amount she spends on gas, or her ancestry.
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann used Earth Day, April 22, 2009, to argue on the floor that the threat of global warming doesn't make any sense because "carbon dioxide is a natural byproduct of nature":
Carbon dioxide, Mister Speaker, is a natural byproduct of nature. Carbon dioxide is natural. It occurs in Earth. It is a part of the regular lifecycle of Earth. In fact, life on planet Earth can't even exist without carbon dioxide. So necessary is it to human life, to animal life, to plant life, to the oceans, to the vegetation that's on the Earth, to the, to the fowl that -- that flies in the air, we need to have carbon dioxide as part of the fundamental lifecycle of Earth.
Watch Bachmann's floor speech below:
Transcript:
BACHMANN: But people talk about cap and tax and they aren’t sure exactly what we’re talking about. Let’s get back to step one. What is the problem? Why do we have to have this tax in the first place?
It’s about carbon dioxide.
Well, what is carbon dioxide? Let’s just go to a fundamental question.
Carbon dioxide, Mister Speaker, is a natural byproduct of nature. Carbon dioxide is natural. It occurs in Earth. It is a part of the regular lifecycle of Earth. In fact, life on planet Earth can’t even exist without carbon dioxide. So necessary is it to human life, to animal life, to plant life, to the oceans, to the vegetation that’s on the Earth, to the, to the fowl that — that flies in the air, we need to have carbon dioxide as part of the fundamental lifecycle of Earth.
As a matter of fact, carbon dioxide is portrayed as harmful!
But there isn’t even one study that can be produced that shows carbon dioxide is a harmful gas. There isn’t one such study because carbon dioxide is not a harmful gas, it is a harmless gas. Carbon dioxide is natural. It is not harmful. It is part of Earth’s life cycle.
And yet we’re being told that we have to reduce this natural substance and reduce the American standard of living to create an arbitrary reduction in something that is naturally occuring in the earth. Well we’re told the crux of this problem is human activity. It’s humans that are creating more carbon dioxide!
Is that true, or is that false?
Well, carbon dioxide is a natural part of Earth’s atmosphere. The carbon dioxide is perhaps three percent of the total atmosphere that’s in the Earth. So if you take a pie chart, and you have all of Earth’s atmosphere, carbon dioxide is perhaps three percent of that total.
What part of human activity creates carbon dioxide? If carbon dioxide is a negligible gas and it’s only three percent of Earth’s atmosphere, what part is human activity?
Human activity contributes perhaps three percent of the three percent. In other words, human activity is maybe 3 percent contributing to the 3 percent of carbon dioxide that’s in Earth’s atmosphere. It’s so negligible — it’s a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent — that it can hardly be — be quantified.
It started with the 16 worst things conservatives have done this year facing off in heated contests, and although we had to go into overtime to do it, we've finally crowned the "Worst of the Worst" for 2009.As this year goes along, make sure your posting the worst of the worst for next year's tournament, who knows, your post could end up being the winner.
Thanks again to everyone who participated, and to our lucky winner of the pick 'em contest, we'll be contacting you by e-mail shortly to arrange your t-shirt delivery.
And that's the real tragedy here. We understand politicians need to distinguish themselves to succeed. But at some point those politicians must set aside extremist, distractive tactics and focus on making viable public policies.
And my personal favorite:
Instead, she consistently invokes extremism, typically by flitting around today's 24/7 media culture ad nauseam. She stops just long enough to drop her political bombs, yet never gives a serious thought to how to shape viable solutions in the partisan environment she knowingly inflames.
Now we aren't strangers to this tactic of Michele Bachmann's, we've written about it before, but today we get to see what the St. Cloud Times was talking about in action yet again.
Today, President Obama met with his cabinent for the first time and outlined a challenge that he gave to them to eliminate an additional $100 million from their budgets in the next 90 Days, which is on top of the work already done by his budgeting office to make other program cuts. Pretty excellent news for taxpayers, Michele Bachamann should be all for this, right? Wrong... it's time for some more non-factor bomb throwing! From her blog on townhall.com:
While it's certainly a laudable move, it's akin to shooting a giant hole in the side of a cruise ship and then bailing the sinking ship out with a dixie cup. Moreover, trimming millions of dollars means absolutely nothing if Congress and the President continue to add billions to the national debt.
Her second point might be more relevant if we had heard from her during the no-bid contracts in the war in Iraq, irresponsible tax cuts for the wealthy, or on any of a host of Republican led policies that increased the deficit during the last eight years. Instead of saying, "It's a laudable move, and here are some other common sense solutions," she goes right back on the attack. Classic "Party of No" from Michele Bachmann. If she would have been paying more attention to President Obama, rather than which Fox News show was going to have her on next, she would have caught this bit from the end of the President's press conference:
Q A hundred million dollars, isn't that a drop in the bucket, sir?
THE PRESIDENT: It is, and that's what I just said. None of these things alone are going to make a difference. But cumulatively they would make an extraordinary difference because they start setting a tone. And so what we're going to do is line by line, page by page, $ 100 million there, $ 100 million here, pretty soon, even in Washington, it adds up to real money.
This time, she can't blame the media for her aversion to the facts. Instead of working with President Obama to make this a workable policy moving forward, she has chosen to remain a bomb-throwing non-factor, and her constituents pay the price.
Rep. Michele Bachmann was on KTLK-AM this weekend, said the Obama administration will set up “re-education camps for young people.. 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.”
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. …
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.
What nefarious government program was Bachmann referring to? The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which will expand the Americorps community service program which places young Americans into organizations working to address critical community needs in education, public safety, health and the environment. The Kennedy Serve America Act expands Americorps from 75,000 positions to 250,000.
Last week, President Obama said the Serve America Act would "help tap the genius of our faith based and community organizations... and grow the most innovative ideas for addressing our common challenges and helping those ideas grow.
Because of this legislation, millions of Americans at all stages of their lives will have new opportunities to serve their country. From improving service learning in schools to creating an army of 250,000 Corps members a year dedicated to addressing our nation's toughest problems. From connecting working Americans to a variety of part-time service opportunities to better utilizing the skills and experience of our retirees and baby boomers. This legislation will help tap the genius of our faith based and community organizations, and it will find the most innovative ideas for addressing our common challenges and helping those ideas grow. But while our government can provide every opportunity imaginable for us to serve our communities, now it is up to each of us to seize those opportunities. I call on all Americans to stand up and do what they can to serve their communities, shape our history and enrich both their own lives and the lives of others across this country.
Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has been getting a lot of attention recently. As TPM put it, "When [Bachmann] talks, people listen -- even if they're not entirely sure what they're hearing."
Bachmann’s apparent attitude makeovers have fooled the media before. Following her suggestion that Barack Obama was “anti-American,” The New York Times noted her “entirely different tone” on its front page just after Election Day last fall, when she announced she was “extremely grateful that we have an African-American who has won this year.”
Bachmann's currency conspiracy shouldn't have come as a surprise. She's been known to say some pretty ridiculous things on the radio. Like, back in 2004 when she went on KMMS-AM and said Minnesota would have gay marriage in 2004, forcing "little children ... to learn that homosexuality is normal ... and perhaps they should try it."
In all likelihood an activist judge will strike down our Defense of Marriage Act... this year. And an in all likelihood, we will have gay marriage in 2004 in Minnesota.
This is an earthquake issue. This will change our state forever. Because the immediate consequence if gay marriage goes through is that K-12 little children will be forced to learn that homosexuality is normal and natural and that perhaps they should try it.
This will take away the civil rights of little children to be protected in their innocence. This is a very serious matter. Because it's our children that is the prize for this community.
The Minnesota Independent has a recap of Michele Bachmann's most recent committee appearance, and although it looks like she may be back on the investigative trail of other members of Congress, it's a tame appearance by her standards. Check it out.
Although it is nice to see her taking an interest in legislating rather than just communicating, Rep. Bachmann is once again forgetting that her actions don't quite match up with her words. She has had chances to weigh in on limits to executive compensation before, and guess what, she voted against it. She also thought that giving executives even more in the way of tax cuts would be a better stimulus plan. A tireless populist, that Michele Bachmann.
For a real change, check out these facts about Obama's budget:
HAD ENOUGH OF AIG CEOS GETTING BREAKS WHILE YOU PAY?
Five Reasons You Will Like Obama's Budget:
1. Working Families, Not CEOs get a tax break. "$525.7 billion would be devoted to extending Mr. Obama's signature "Making Work Pay" $800 tax credit for working couples."
2. No More Overseas Corporate Tax Loopholes. "The budget envisions reaping $210 billion over the next decade by limiting the ability of U.S.-based multinational companies to shield overseas profits from taxation."
3. Hedge Fund Managers Must Pay Taxes Too ($24 billion) "Another $24 billion would come from hedge fund and private equity managers, whose income would be taxed at income tax rates, not capital gains rates."
4. Closing Oil Company Loopholes $31.5 billion. "The Obama administration Thursday proposed raising at least $31.5 billion over 10 years from oil and gas companies, reflecting a repeal of tax breaks for domestic production and new charges on oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico."
5. No More Tax Loopholes for America’s Wealthiest People. As OMB Director Peter Orszag explained, "the tax code treats two different contributors to a non-profit. If you're a teacher making $50,000 a year and decide to donate $1,000 to the Red Cross or United Way, you enjoy a tax break of $150. If you are Warren Buffet or Bill Gates and you make that same donation, you get a $350 deduction – more than twice the break as the teacher."
"I took a pledge in my own district," Bachmann told Fox Business News on March 11. "I have not taken earmarks in the last three years that I've been in congress, because the system is so corrupt."
This is FALSE.
According to the Washington watchdog group Legistorm, in 2008, Bachmann requested seven earmarks by herself or with others totaling $3,767,600.
Michele is finding herself in hot water again after claiming that she has not requested earmarks, and then immediately being told by a government watchdog group that, yes, she has. That wouldn't stop her from appearing on more shows repeating her attacks on earmarks, but it wouldn't be a truly Bachmann moment if she didn't try and dig out from one lie with another.
WILSON: Well, I see a government watchdog group says since you became a member of the House you’ve taken in, oh, 3.7 million in earmarks.
BACHMANN: Well, the average earmark I think for the state of Minnesota for the members of Congress is somewhere around 70,000– million, so mine is very, very small on that level and that’s in the first two years that was in. After I saw the way that the process worked, after being a freshman, I saw how corrupt it was and took an earmark pledge and that’s why I personally have no earmarks in the current budget bill and the stimulus bill that was passed this year.
Yet, the total cost of earmarks Bachmann shifted to Minnesota in 2008 is well above the cost of the “average earmark” designated to her state.According to Legistorm, in 2008, Minnesota’s congressional delegation designated 158 earmarks worth over 330 million, an average of 2.1 million per earmark. Thus, the “the average earmark” for Minnesota’s members of Congress was not million as Bachmann claimed, but rather 2.1 million — less than the 3.7 Bachmann earmarked.
Whoops. Now this would be easy to dismiss as more craziness out of Minnesota's Fightin' 6th, because really at this point it's expected. However Michele is just reading right out of the national Republican playbook on this, comlpain about earmarking money for your district... but certainly don't stop doing it yourself.
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Before recessing for August, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, a key committee, approved health care legislation that could mean nearly universal coverage and a public option. Although there’s still a lot of negotiating and debating to go before we get comprehensive health care reform, it’s remarkable that health reformers are unified in their push for change. The 
Little over a week has passed since Al Franken was 
Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has been getting a lot of attention recently. As TPM put it, "When [Bachmann] talks, people listen -- even if they're not entirely sure what they're hearing."
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