Congresswoman Bachmann has a post up on her blog about ACORN

ACORN By Any Other Name Is Still ACORN

Recently, ACORN International, which works in 12 countries across the world, has switched their name to "Community Organizations International." Apparently, being investigated in 14 states for voter registration fraud and facing repeated accusations by ACORN board members of financial mismanagement will inevitably take its toll on an organization’s image. It will be interesting to see if ACORN as a whole takes on a new name as well.

Meanwhile, ACORN is taking legal action against the group of whistleblowers known as the ACORN 8. This group of current and former members believes that ACORN "has been corrupted from its original purpose by senior management and an organizational structure that exploits the low and moderate income membership it was founded to serve." They are not looking for the complete dismantling of ACORN, but hope to restore the organization to its original and meaningful purpose through an independent audit and Congressional hearings.

Arthur Schwartz, the general counsel for ACORN, has sent a “cease and desist” letter to the group that would prohibit the "use of the name and mark 'ACORN' as well as the image of an acorn."

Clearly, ACORN does not like anyone criticizing their current operations and leadership. Marcel Reid, chair of ACORN 8, told the Washington Examiner that her group "will not comply."

“We have no intention of not using the name ACORN 8, it is not a trademark infringement,” she said. “This get tough attitude is part of larger attempt to silence people and shut them down. We are not going to be silenced."

It will be interesting to see how this case plays out, but we should all be thankful that a group like this is holding ACORN accountable.

Congresswoman Bachmann has a post on her blog about how General Motors is now 'urging' GM Dealers to call their members of Congress to have other GM Dealers closed, complete with talking points.

GM Pitting Dealers Against One Another
Posted by: Michele Bachmann at 11:18 AM

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve spoken with the GM and Chrysler car dealerships from my district that have been targeted for total or partial closure by President Obama’s Auto Task Force. They were given no reason, and really no recourse to challenge their closure. It is as if the Car Czar threw a dart at a dartboard to decide which dealerships would be given a pink slip. In fact, we still do not know the formula used to determine which dealers would remain open and which ones would close; which ones would lose certain brands and which would get new brands.

Now, GM is officially pitting dealers against another.  And, remember:  the government owns 60% of GM.  It has committed $50.7 billion directly to GM, plus another $12.5 to their financing arm, GMAC.  When we talk about GM, it’s hard to consider it a private entity.

GM is encouraging their "viable" dealerships to put pressure on Congress to defeat legislation aimed at protecting the hundreds of dealerships across the country slated for closure. I am a cosponsor of this legislation, the Automobile Dealer Economic Rights Restoration Act of 2009, that would honor a car company’s previous commitments to local car dealers.  GM is lobbying for its defeat.

According to the Detroit News:

"GM gave its dealers talking points - and even a telephone script to use while talking to their members of Congress to oppose the measure. Dealers also have access to a toll-free number to help them reach a member of Congress -- dubbed the Dealer Voice Hot Line -- or dealers can e-mail legislators via a company Web site: www.gmdealervoice.com."


GM maintains that "In order to build a stronger, more viable GM, it is essential to have the best performing dealers, in the right locations, aligned with GM’s brand distribution strategy to be a part of GM’s reinvention."

Yet many of the best performing dealers are the ones GM is shutting down. The government is playing politics with private enterprise, and sadly, family businesses across the country are the ones taking the hit.

Here's a glimpse at some of the Dealers in the 6th District that have already been forced to close or are on the list. Note, this is from conversations and news stories. The complete list is not yet public.

• Fury Dodge Chrysler Lake Elmo
• Main Motors, Chevrolet Cadillac - Anoka
• Paynesville Koronis Motors
• Stillwater Motor Company

Here's a petition to save 6th District Dealers

Congresswoman Bachmann is standing firm against ACORN and how they are involved in the US Census.

EXCLUSIVE: Minn. lawmaker vows not to complete Census

Outspoken Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann says she's so worried that information from next year's national census will be abused that she will refuse to fill out anything more than the number of people in her household.

In an interview Wednesday morning with The Washington Times "America's Morning News," Mrs. Bachmann, Minnesota Republican, said the questions have become "very intricate, very personal" and she also fears ACORN, the community organizing group that came under fire for its voter registration efforts last year, will be part of the Census Bureau's door-to-door information collection efforts.

"I know for my family the only question we will be answering is how many people are in our home," she said. "We won't be answering any information beyond that, because the Constitution doesn't require any information beyond that."

(The following is from Congresswoman Bachmann's blog)

It's a big news week in Washington, but perhaps no item is more significant than the cost analysis released by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) for the Democrats’ new health care reform bill.

Proposed by Senator Ted Kennedy's Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, the CBO found that it would cost at least $1 trillion over 10 years, and yet leave tens of millions of people uninsured. What’s even more troubling is that this hefty price tag does not include the massive costs of a government-run insurance plan or an expansion of Medicaid.

Politico reports that:

"The CBO concluded that by 2017, for example, the ranks of the uninsured would drop by about one third, or 16 million people, relative to projections under the current law.

"In that year, about 39 million would be covered by policies purchased through a government-organized marketplace known as an exchange. At the same time, however, 15 million would lose their employer provided insurance and another 8 million would move away from coverage they receive through government programs, the analysis concluded."

In sum, this plan spends too much, covers too few, and forces too many to lose the coverage that they have now. Clearly, it is anything but a fiscally responsible approach to health care reform. But we really shouldn't be surprised seeing how reckless the White House and Congress have been with your money over the past several months.

A government takeover of health care will raise taxes, ration care, and let government bureaucrats make decisions that should be made by families and their health care professionals. Republicans support health care reform that puts patients first and protects the important doctor-patient relationship. Republicans want to make quality health care affordable and accessible for every American and we want to let those who like their current health care coverage keep it.

We cannot allow politicians and special interests to stand between patients and the care they need. The American people deserve the freedom to choose the health care that is best for their families.

Content from: The Bachmann Blog

MPR recorded the audio of Congresswoman Bachmann's speech at the Republican Party of Minnesota June 2009 State Central Meeting.

You can listen to the audio here. 

Correction: This petition was not started by Congresswoman Bachmann. 

 PETITION TO KEEP FROM SHUTTING DOWN PROFITABLE DEALERSHIPS IN MINNESOTA


This Petition is for the purpose of helping to reverse decisions made by the Obama Administration to close down auto dealerships, who are profitable. According to the details listed in the documentation for thinning the dealerships around the Country, dealerships that showed a tendency to lose money were to be closed. This would mean that only the most profitable dealerships would be left to sell cars for GM and Chrysler/Jeep. There has been a different set of standards applied, however! At Present time 2 dealerships in the 6TH Congressional District are being told to close their doors, when several others with less desirable profit and loss statements are being kept open. The 2 dealerships in question are Main Motors in Anoka (GM dealership for the last 90 years), and Fury Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep in Lake Elmo. It is the purpose of this petition to make aware to the Obama Administration that in a time of economic peril in this Country, the closing of profitable dealerships anywhere in the Country is absurd and should not be allowed to go ahead that way.

By signing this petition, you are saying that you want profitable dealerships in your district and around the Country to remain open, thus keeping thousands of people employed and paying their taxes in a time of high unemployment and the start of inflation. Please help us to achieve no less than 10,000 signatures, so that our Representative, Michele Bachmann, can deliver it to the White House and make our desires and needs heard!

Sign the petition

The following is a post from Kathy Lohmer's blog, A View From The House Gallery. Lohmer was a candidate in 2008 for the Minnesota House District 56A seat.

What good idea is next? Mandatory broccoli eating?
by: Kathy Lohmer

How far will our liberal legistature go in mandating what's best for you?



Well, it's official. One of the last of the "victories" of our house session debates will be put into action today. It is the mandatory seat belt law. Yes, folks can now be pulled over as a primary offense if a police officer believes that he or she is not wearing their seat belt. This issue was discussed and passed on the last day of session and had a long and spirited debate.

There were several amendments offered....allowing juries to hear whether or not a person was wearing a seatbelt or not - (Rep Kohls 34A Victoria), and Rep. Steve Drazkowski R28B asked for the removal of the word "primary" in his amendment.

There were many interesting arguments to vote NO on this bill during the debate. Bobby Champion (DFL 58B) mentioned the fact that 87% of Minnesota citizen's are already in compliance with wearing a seat belt and that this number is so high due to successful education, not mandatory enforcement. Rep Cy Thao (DFL-65A) spoke to the fact that he himself has been pulled over for no reason, and stated that " racial profiling does happen." Carlos Mariani (DFL 65B) - gave a personal story about his family's experience of being racially profiled. In this instance, his daughter's two friends ended up being jailed and his car was impounded.

Rep Bud Nornes (R-10A Fergus Falls) spoke about law-abiding senior citizens who will now be made to be criminals because of their choice to not wear a seat belt. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety itself reports that during 2006-2008, there were 1,096 vehicle occupants killed on Minnesota roads, and that only 518 of them were unbelted(http://www.dps.state.mn.us/ Minnesota Seat Belt Overview). While this is indeed a large number of lives that could have been saved, the fact remains that there were more occupants who were wearing seat belts killed than there were not wearing seat belts.

Representative Buesgens (R-Dist. 35B) spoke about all the good ideas the legislature could enact, such as mandatory eating of broccoli, mandatory exercise, wearing a helmet inside your car, etc.....there are lots of good ideas. He also stated that we should consider the price of accepting federal money in relation to the cost of forfeiting our freedoms. Other representatives concurred with comments such as "People can care for themselves" and "this bill is crumbling away at people's liberties."

The bipartisan objection to this bill was very compelling. Representatives from both sides of the aisle were very aware of the legalistic approach to this bill. Nonetheless, the current representatives from District 56 and many others voted in favor of this law. The vote was 73-60 and passed.

I do agree with the use of seat belts, and I believe that they do indeed, in most instances, save lives. Nevertheless, I would have voted to retain the liberties of the citizens of Minnesota and I would trust the individuals to decide for themselves how to live their lives.

Looks like it really is "Buckle up or pay".