Photo: house.gov

Photo: house.gov

Rep. Michele Bachmann is taking heat from her opponents over a statement saying she would like to end two major social programs. “But basically what we have to do is wean everybody else off” Social Security and Medicare, Bachmann said at the Constitutional Coalition meeting in St. Louis this weekend.

That statement raised the ire of Dr. Maureen Reed, Sen. Tarryl Clark and the Minnesota DFL.

“What Congresswoman Bachmann is talking about, plain and simple, is bringing an end to Social Security and Medicare,” Clark said in a statement. “Michele Bachmann has decided to yank the proverbial retirement rug out from under her constituents – just when it’s needed the most.”

“Michele Bachmann has long been the enemy of retiring Americans,” said Clark.

Clark’s campaign created a petition called, “Stop the Bachmann agenda to end Social Security and Medicare.”

Reed’s campaign manager Jason Isaacson released a statement on Tuesday with a similar sentiment.

“Michele Bachmann’s statements Monday are indicative of the way she conducts herself as a Congresswoman,” he said. “She purposely injects fear into public policy debates, attempting to paralyze the dialogue and prevent common-sense solutions.”

Isaacson said paying down the national debt while at the same time protecting seniors’ retirement is the right thing to do.

“Michele Bachmann’s prognosticating that there is one particular thing to do, without taking into consideration the other factors in play, or even addressing the specifics of exactly what her proposal would entail, is nothing more than another political ploy aimed at making headlines instead of caring for the needs of her constituents,” he said.

Meanwhile, the DFL piled on Bachmann.

DFL head Brian Melendez said, “Representative Bachmann would like to kick senior citizens off of programs that they depend upon — ironically, the same programs for which Representative Bachmann has obstructed reform.”

Here’s Bachmann’s full statement to the Constitutional Coalition:

BACHMANN: Is the country too big to fail? No, the country can fail. We can, we’re not invincible. And we’re so close now to being at that point because the thing is, as Glenn Beck said last night, it is true. The $107 trillion that he put on the board. We’re $14 trillion in debt, but that doesn’t include the unfunded massive liabilities. That’s $107 trillion, and that’s for Social Security and Medicare and all the rest. You add up all those unfunded net liabilities, and all the traps that could go wrong we’re on the hook for, and what it means is what we have to do is a reorganization of all of that, Social Security and all. We have to do it simply because we can’t let the contract remain as they are because the older people are going to lose. So, what you have to do, is keep faith with the people that are already in the system, that don’t have any other options, we have to keep faith with them. But basically what we have to do is wean everybody else off. And wean everybody off because we have to take those unfunded net liabilities off our bank sheet, we can’t do it. So we just have to be straight with people. So basically, whoever our nominee is, is going to have to have a Glenn Beck chalkboard and explain to everybody this is the way it is.