The anonymous project, which dubs voices over Bachmann’s actual words, released the video Monday on Youtube. The visual portion is based on a series of event promotions Bachmann did in June for her presidential bid.

Earlier Bad Lip-Reading remixes include music videos like “Gang Fight,” a re-imagination of Rebecca Black’s “Friday.”

Among the words of wisdom in the video lampooning Bachmann:

“When I buy stickers for folks in prison, it’s better to bring milk, not backyard meth, it’s a prison party.”

“I went from being two banana plants up to a thrill-seeking shark who sold pictures of different toys I wanted.”

Keep Conservatives United, a Super PAC supporting GOP presidential contender Michele Bachmann, released an ad this week attacking one of Bachmann’s main competitors for the Republican nomination, Rick Perry. The ad claims Perry engaged in record borrowing as governor of Texas.

The ad “documents the contradiction between Governor Perry’s claim his number one principle is ‘Don’t spend all the money’ and his recent record borrowing to fund government in Texas,” the group said in a statement. “While Perry is borrowing record dollars to cover his deficit, Bachmann led the fight against Washington’s deal to increase debt. Keep Conservatives United’s ads make the difference clear.”

The ads will run in South Carolina, an early primary state, on Fox News, CNN and CNBC.

Here’s the ad:

Perry has been out-polling Bachmann since he entered the race in early August, the same day that Bachmann won the coveted Iowa Straw Poll.

Rev. Gregrey Renstrom of Minneapolis’ New Harmony United Methodist Church is facing a formal complaint within the United Methodist Church for his participation in the recent Twin Cities LGBT Pride Festival. The complaint alleges that Renstrom performed blessings for same-sex couples, in violation of the church’s laws, during a mass commitment ceremony held annually at the festival.

According to the complaint, Renstrom was seen on a KARE 11 video performing a commitment ceremony for a couple at the Pride festival on June 25. The story was about legalizing same-sex marriage in New York and defeating a ballot measure that would add a ban on marriage for gays and lesbians to the Minnesota Constitution.

The complaint alleges that Renstrom violated Paragraph 341.6 of The 2008 United Methodist Book of Discipline, which states, “Ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions shall not be conducted by our ministers and shall not be conducted in our churches.”

“I am not suspending Rev. Renstrom from his ministry with the New Harmony fellowship that meets at the historic Wesley building in Minneapolis,” wrote Bishop Sally Dyck. “He will continue to have the rights and responsibilities of ministry while we follow this process to its outcome. He has agreed not to do any more ‘blessings’ while under complaint.”

Renstrom has notified Dyck that he intended to conduct commitment ceremonies for same-sex couples at Twin Cities Pride.

Earlier in June, more than 70 of Minnesota’s Methodist ministers vowed to defy church law, bless same-sex couples and oppose the proposed constitutional amendment banning marriage for gays and lesbians.

“I would ask that you keep in your prayers Rev. Renstrom, the New Harmony fellowship, the Minnesota Annual Conference (of churches and clergy), The United Methodist Church, and all in our culture who are struggling, hurting, and caring deeply about this matter,” Bishop Dyck said.

Dyck said she is working closely with Renstrom and the church’s disciplinary process to ensure a just result. She has also gone public with the complaint with Renstrom’s support.

Presidential candidate and former junior varsity hockey player Tim Pawlenty released an ad comparing his campaign to the 1980 “Miracle on Ice.”

The 1980 U.S. hockey team, led by Minnesotan Herb Brooks and consisting of many University of Minnesota players, famously beat the U.S.S.R team in the Winter Olympics.

The video lauds Pawlenty’s terms as Minnesota governor, where he says he beat unions, won in a government shutdown and moved a liberal state to the right.

In recent weeks, the former Minnesota governor has taken to attacking his opponents, especially U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, who is surging in Iowa polls. It’s a desperate tactic because, as University of Iowa Professor Tim Hagle pointed out to the Minnesota Independent recently, attacks on other Republicans tend to turn off the caucus-goers in the state.

“They need to distinguish each other, in ways that don’t diminish each other, because Republican voters don’t like that attacking each other sort of stuff,” Hagle said.

Recent media reports have suggested that Pawlenty is trying to lower expectations and position himself as an underdog candidate. But the comparisons to the “Miracle on ice”‘ may not help Pawlenty in his home state of Minnesota, home of hardcore hockey fans, where an early Twitter reaction described his new video as “blasphemous.”

With a partisan stalemate in St. Paul over the lack of agreement over a state budget, the Minnesota government remains closed, except for essential services. Minnesota Independent Senior Reporter Andy Birkey discussed the latest developments Wednesday with Free Speech TV, including Republican claims that negotiations moved backwards, the GOP’s last-minute attempt to slip controversial issues like voter ID provisions (which DFLers said would increase the budget) and bans on certain forms of stem-cell research into a deal.

It’s Birkey’s second appearance on Free Speech TV. Last month, he discussed Tim Pawlenty’s presidential campaign and his donations from top executives of Morgan Stanley, a global financial services corporation linked to the recent financial crisis.

Watch it:

Ascendent in the polls despite increasing pressure for her stances on some social issues, presidential hopeful U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann released a video Wednesday that highlights her economic bonafides.

In Bachmann’s first Iowa ad of the season, titled “Waterloo,” she highlights her Iowa roots and slams the stimulus, bailout and any increase to the debt ceiling.

Bachmann has charged up the ranks of Iowa and New Hampshire polls. But in recent days, national news venues like the Washington Post, Politico and the Los Angeles Times have published pieces chewing over Bachmann and husband Marcus’ conservative social positions.

It could represent a new tack for Bachmann, who’s been most well-known for her positions on social issues. A U.S. News and World Report post today suggested that focusing on fiscal conservatism could help pave Bachmann’s way to the Republican nomination by attracting more middle-of-the-road voters.

The DNC quickly responded to the ad, pointing out that Bachmann’s stance on the debt limit could lead to higher interest rates and other damage to the still-weak economy.

Watch it:

As Republican presidential hopeful and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty starts his swing through Iowa, the state’s Democratic Party is taking aim at his no-taxes pledge.

Iowa Democrats released a video Tuesday that features Minnesota citizens blaming Pawlenty’s stance on taxes for big increases in local property taxes during his term as governor. According to a Minnesota 2020 report, real property taxes paid in Minnesota increased by 26 percent, or $1.7 billion, from 2002 to 2010 as state aid for local communities dropped precipitously.

Pawlenty kicks off his Iowa campaign in earnest today with stops in Clear Lake and Ames. He also recently announced the hire of former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee’s daughter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who will head up Pawlenty’s efforts in the Iowa Straw Poll, held in August.

In a Tuesday interview with the Wall Street Journal, Pawlenty said he plans to campaign in Iowa on his record as Minnesota governor and his no-taxes pledge. Pawlenty has so far ranked low in all Iowa polls, but told the Journal he wasn’t worried and would maintain his approach.

“I am not overly worried or panicked in any sense,” said Mr. Pawlenty in an interview Tuesday. “We start from a lower point than the people who are better known or ran last time. I’m confident this steady approach will begin to pay dividends, particularly as we get into the fall and winter.”

Watch it:

A group hoping to make the welfare of America’s children a national political priority is up with television advertisements in Iowa and New Hampshire that directly ask residents of the first contest states to hold 2012 presidential hopefuls accountable.

Vote Kids, a nonprofit created in 2002, wants voters to tell those running for or considering running for president in 2012 to invest in and not cut programs that benefit children and families.

Watch the 30-second spot, “A or B,” that is appearing in Iowa this week:

“We want to bring attention to how children will be harmed as a result of federal budget proposals which already passed the House of Representatives,” said Michael Petite, president of Vote Kids.

“The so-called Ryan budget slashes programs vital to children and families, including Head Start, child care, public safety, child nutrition, education, Pell Grants, Community and Development Block Grants and jobs programs. These are shortsighted actions that would weaken America’s global economic competitiveness, which is why we want kids’ issues to be a prominent part of the debate in the forthcoming presidential campaign.”

According to the organization, the budget authored by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) and approved by the U.S. House would convert Medicaid into block grants and result in $1.4 trillion in cuts, while doing nothing to reduce health care costs. These cuts would affect the 30 million children nationwide served by Medicaid, including some 224,616 children served in Iowa.

The House plan also calls for cuts to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program by $127 billion, or 20 percent, over the next ten years. Millions of families would be affected, Petit said, leading to increased hunger and poverty. In Iowa, 111,610 children rely on food stamps, 147,839 receive free and reduced price lunches at school, and almost 9,000 are in the Summer Food Service Program.

While cutting health care and nutrition programs for working families and children, the Ryan Budget gives those Americans earning more than $1 million an additional $125,000 yearly tax break.

The Vote Kids’ ad asks viewers what choices they would make if they were in charge of America’s budget and to urge the presidential candidates streaming through Iowa in the months ahead to support smart policies for kids:

Although this isn’t Vote Kids’ first foray into national politics, the organization does appear to be the first to begin a campaign in the first contest states in hopes of driving a national conversation.

In 2006, the organization ran two campaigns spotlighting the records of former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Penn.) and U.S. Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.). During an after-poll in Arizona, the organization’s ads were remembered by voters and, more importantly, most voters reported caring about and acting upon the very issues raised in the Vote Kids campaign.

The organization also maintains an Iowa scorecard on issues important to children and families.

FAYETTE, IA — When Jim Kirkpatrick, chairman of the Fayette County Republican Central Committee, began to plan the organization’s spring fundraiser only one name was placed on his list for keynote speaker: Minnesota’s former governor, Tim Pawlenty.

“He’s the one I targeted,” Kirkpatrick told The Iowa Independent prior to Saturday night’s event. “This is our spring fundraiser, he was the candidate that I invited and I’m just delighted that we are going to have him here.”

Nodding to the 12 round tables and chairs that were already filling with guests, Kirkpatrick noted that these types of events are what make Iowa and New Hampshire unique in the presidential nominating process.

“This is retail politics,” he said and smiled. “Iowans want to look you in the eye, shake your hand and be able to ask their questions. I think that is no only important, but critical. Iowa and New Hampshire are the nation’s retail politics states. A lot of the other states are what I call the ‘fly-by states’ — Florida, Texas, California. [Those places are] where campaigns are won and lost with very few appearances and mostly media buys and marketing.”

Kathleen Appleby of Independence, Iowa, spoke to Pawlenty specifically to find out his stance on fiscal issues. Photo: Lynda Waddington, The Iowa Independent

Perhaps because such retail politicking has been a bit slower in this cycle than in 2008 — Pawlenty is the first 2012 potential candidate to appear on behalf of the Fayette County GOP this season — many Republicans attending the event drove from cities and towns one and two hours away. It goes without saying in Iowa that smaller events often provide the best opportunities for one-on-one contact with presidential candidates, and the Fayette venue proved to be no exception to that rule. Even as event organizers packed up food supplies and stacked up folding chairs, Pawlenty continued to slowly move around the room, taking time with every person who waited.

“He’s the candidate I feel could best represent the Republican Party because he is not totally tied up in the social issues. … It was wonderful to actually talk with someone that I think is going to be close to going all the way,” said Independence resident Kathleen Appleby, who drove about an hour so she could speak directly with Pawlenty about her fiscal concerns.

“When I spoke with him, I wanted to know if he was really going to attack these entitlement issues, if he was really going to go after what we have to go after — Social Security, Medicare especially — because we can’t solve our fiscal problems if we don’t,” Appleby confided.

She also wanted to know if the Pawlenty campaign had been reaching out to seniors who could serve as spokespersons on these issues.

“As a senior [citizen], there is credibility on this topic — especially if you are willing to cut your own benefits,” she said. “And he said he was going to go after this, that he was going to touch the so-called ‘third rail’ and address the entitlement issues.”

Pawlenty signs a copy of his book for Waverly Mayor Bob Brunkhorst. Photo: Lynda Waddington, Iowa Independent

Former state lawmaker and current Waverly Mayor Bob Brunkhorst, despite having a one-hour drive, was one of the first to arrive for the event and one of the last to leave. Most of his time, however, was spent helping at the food service table.

“I’m here to help serve this fantastic meal, but I also wanted to hear what Gov. Pawlenty had to say,” Brunkhorst said. “I’ve read his book, and he some great ideas about how to get our country on board and moving in the right direction.”

The Fayette event marked the second time Brunkhorst had heard Pawlenty speak, and he, like Appleby, said he was leaving the event with an even more favorable opinion of Pawlenty than when he arrived.

“It’s still early,” he said. “We still don’t know exactly who will wind up being in the field of candidates on caucus night. But I do know that Tim will do a fantastic job, and that he is in the top tier of candidates that I think people should consider.”

No matter how much time Iowans spend speaking directly to and grilling the candidates, said Brunkhorst, there is no way to tell the exact decision a candidate would make in specific situations as an elected president.

“What we need to find out is what a person’s principles are and how that person stands on specific issues,” he said, adding that in Pawlenty he sees “good, guiding principles” that should be indicative of a great leader.

Dyersville Mayor Jim Heavens drove about 60 miles to attend the Fayette fundraiser, and was one of the last event attendees to leave the facility. He stood and shared caucus war stories with others in the audience and members of the press for nearly an hour, biding his time as Pawlenty worked his way around the room. He’s met many presidential hopefuls and, like so many others, knows that the 10 months between now and caucus night can hold many surprises. Still, he “likes Pawlenty” and is looking forward to the process.

For his part, Pawlenty didn’t shy away from the most basic tenants of social conservatism during his public remarks: A belief that the U.S. needs to turn toward God, not away.

“You can’t change what you believe or your values — that would just be phony,” Pawlenty told The Iowa Independent after the event. “People have to campaign based on who they are and what they believe whether they are in Minnesota or Iowa or New Hampshire or South Carolina or anywhere else. That’s what I’m going to do. That’s what I’ve done for my entire career.”

The braided message Pawlenty presented of himself being a candidate that could excite Republicans of all stripes wasn’t lost on those attending the event. Most, however, seemed pleased with the idea that there could be a candidate socially conservative enough to appeal to the nearly 60 percent of caucus-going Republicans who demand such a politician and fiscally conservative enough to appeal to “old school” GOP deficit hawks at the same time.

“I just hope that he continues his message of being both a fiscal and a social conservative,” said Kirkpatrick.

Portions of Pawlenty’s public remarks are provided in the video below.

As she awaited election results Tuesday night, Rep. Michele Bachmann did a quick interview with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews. Presaging the victory that came for Bachmann an hour later, Matthews revisited the topic of their conversation two years earlier: “If your party gets control of the House of Representatives, will you use the subpoena power to investigate the Democratic members of Congress for un-Americanism?”

“Will you use the subpoena power, which you will have as majority, if you claim the majority of the Congress — it looks like you will — will you use subpoena powers to do what you said on my show you’d do — investigate the Democratic members of Congress for un-American activities?”

His question referenced their Oct. 2008 conversation in which Bachmann said she believed the media should investigate “anti-American views” she believes Barack Obama and members of Congress hold.

“I think the first thing we’re going to do is try to set the economy in order, because jobs is the big issue,” she answered. “What people want to make sure is that no one’s taxes are going up. So I’m calling on Speaker Pelosi during the lame duck session to listen to the American people. They’re speaking overwhelmingly tonight: ‘Don’t raise our taxes. Stop the out-of-control spending. That’s how we’re going to get jobs back.”

She says she wants to see an “extension to all the current tax policy.”

When Matthews again asked about using subpoena power to investigate fellow legislators, she ignored it, instead listing four tax-related policies she says she’ll pursue.

“Are you hypnotized tonight?” Matthews then asked. “Because no matter what I ask you, you give the same  answer.”

“I think the American people are the ones that finally are speaking tonight,” she replied, generating guffaws from MSNBC commentator Keith Olbermann. “We’re coming out of our trance. We’re coming out of our nightmare.”

Matthews’ promised to bring up the subject in a future interview.

At the GOP Youth Convention July, Bachmann did address the question.

“How do you feel about the chances for like a little oversight and a little accountability now that the Republicans will have the subpoena power,” she was asked. “How aggressive do you think…”

“Oh, I think that’s all we should do,” Bachmann said. “I think that all we should do is issue subpoenas and have one hearing after another. And expose all the nonsense that is gone on. And it’s very important when we come back that we have constitutional conservative leadership because the American people’s patience is about this big. So we have to make sure that we do what the people want us to do.”