Her statements on the rich, ACORN, the stimulus package and health care led to rounds of debunking.

When the Republican congresswoman wrote, “We are running out of rich people in this country,” she really meant:

The Democrats claim they just want the “rich” to pay their fair share. But, we all know their definition of rich includes more and more middle class Americans each year…

The Democrats’ wealth redistribution scheme can’t continue on this runaway path. Sooner or later, they’ll be coming after you too.

And, because I dare to say so, they’re targeting all their resources to defeat me. They’ll stop at nothing to take your voice away in Congress.

Full text of her e-mail fund-raising pitch after the jump. …

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is after me again — mailing nationwide to raise $50,000 by Wednesday to use against me and other principled Members of Congress who are standing up to runaway spending in Washington.

DCCC Attacks Bachmann

The text of their email — sent to thousands of their liberal supporters — and signed by one of Bill and Hillary Clinton’s political masterminds — is reprinted for you below.

Contribute Now and Show Them You Won’t Be Silenced!

They just don’t get it, do they?

President Obama wasn’t in office a full month before he pushed through Congress a $792-billion spending bill cleverly packaged as a so-called “economic stimulus” package. But, the facts are startlingly clear: This was about spending on liberal policy agenda items, not about stimulating the economy.

From the Los Angeles Times to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), respected news sources and independent analysts said that the money they were spending would come long after the economic recovery has begun; that the bill’s priorities were skewed in favor of programs that have little to no stimulative value.

Commentators across the nation pointed to provisions of the bill that literally stripped away restrictions that Congress passed only months earlier to keep ACORN from getting billions in federal funding.

And, Republicans offered alternatives to redirect spending to shovel-ready transportation projects that are proven to create jobs and to small business and family tax relief with a history of getting an economy going. Our alternative would have created twice the jobs at half the cost.

The Democrats rejected these commonsense proposals and pushed through their profligate spending. And, as a result, government spending on this recession has reached $9.7 trillion in the last year, placing an incredible burden not only on today’s taxpayers, but on taxpayers for generations.

The Democrats claim they just want the “rich” to pay their fair share. But, we all know their definition of rich includes more and more middle class Americans each year. Just ask any struggling family farmer who worries about the cost of the death tax. Or ask any middle class family that suddenly realizes it has to pay the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).

The Democrats’ wealth redistribution scheme can’t continue on this runaway path. Sooner or later, they’ll be coming after you too.

And, because I dare to say so, they’re targeting all their resources to defeat me. They’ll stop at nothing to take your voice away in Congress.

Please send what you can today. I need you to show them that we will not be silenced. Click here to make a secure donation:

I want to help, Michele!

Thank you for your generous support and your prayers.

Sincerely,

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann

Schumacher quotes MnDOT spokeswoman Lucy Kender as stating, “if we were to receive federal funding in some fashion, we would use that funding as efficiently as possible, but waiting for earmarking from the 2009 appropriations process, the timing would be off.”

In the letter to Pawlenty, Bachmann writes, “Rather than relying on the whims of Congress, you have streamlined the process and assured my constituents that you will get the job done, and you have recognized that once the design and construction of the DeSoto Bridge has proceeded with state dollars under state regulations, receiving a federal earmark subject to federal regulations so late in the game would create significant setbacks — that is, if one was appropriated at all.”

Schumacher notes that Bachmann’s letter did not mention her prior pledge to seek federal grants in order to offset the cost to the state for rebuilding the bridge.

Bachmann’s office has had high turnover throughout her short time in Washington. Her first chief of staff, Brooks Kochvar, departed after just two months. Bachmann never announced Kochvar’s departure and famously claimed he was “out” a month after Kochvar had left to work for Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore.

Presson may be a good fit for Bachmann’s office. The former Giuliani campaign co-chair for northern Virginia has been described as a “sound-bite flamethrower,” and there is anecdotal evidence to back that up. When Rep. Garrett conducted a survey to gauge the mood of the 202 Republican representatives after the 2006 midterm elections, Roll Call interviewed Presson about the results:

When asked what Democrats were credited for doing right, Presson said, “They stole our ideas, they ran as Republicans.” Presson pointed to candidacies such as Sen. Bob Casey (Pa.), a pro-life, pro-gun Democrat who defeated Sen. Rick Santorum (R).

They finally woke up to the fact that you have to accept some people who may not believe in everything you believe in,” she said.

Continued: Click “Read more”Pressman may have to hone a new message. Bachmann’s ideas to this point have been limited to funding cuts for Amtrak and the return of the incandescent bulb. Bachmann also has demonstrated difficulty in accepting people who may not share her beliefs, unless spying on those people from behind a hedge is part of her acceptance process.

No immediate changes to Bachmann’s office policy were noticeable and business as usual seems to be the rule of the day: There has been no response to Minnesota Monitor inquiries at the time of publication.

She’s among a handful of bipartisan Congress members who arrive hours early to ensure an aisle seat and, therefore a chance to embrace Bush and video cameras.

At last year’s State of the Union address, Bachmann got her embrace and time in front of the camera — a full 30 seconds.

That embrace earned Bachmann much negative criticism among detractors, and exemplified her staunch support of Bush.

Were her words taken out of context? The St. Cloud Times has a transcript of what Bachmann said via Congressional Quarterly. The Times also has a statement form Bachmann’s office:

“As I said, I’m proud to be from the state of Minnesota. And I’ve always been proud of the work ethic of Minnesotans.

“We work long hours and sometimes even two jobs to provide for our families.  But the families across our state and the nation are feeling anxiety. The costs of healthcare, gasoline, tuition, and other necessities are rising.  That’s why it’s more important than ever to provide workers and small businesses with the tools they need to create more jobs and improve the economic future for American families.

“Yesterday, I joined my colleagues in proposing legislation to stimulate our economy and to show the American people that Washington is working for them, and not vice versa.

“Leave it to the naysayers to try to make political gain from a statement congratulating our citizens on their industriousness and strong work ethic.”

Here’s what the full text of what Bachmann said:

“I am so proud to be from the state of Minnesota. We’re the workingest state in the country, and the reason why we are, we have more people that are working longer hours, we have people that are working two jobs, we have more women in the workforce than any other state.

“In Minnesota, we like to work and we work hard. We’re not different from other states in our country. That’s what I love about the bill that Eric Cantor is leading the charge on today, because what he wants to do is make sure that more jobs are created for American women, for families.

“We can do that when employers have the resources that they need to create those jobs.

“My husband and I employ 40 people in our small business. And we would be delighted to employ more people. But you can’t do it when the tax man is there with his tin cup, asking for more.

“Some of the stimulus packages that we’ve heard, from Obama, from Clinton, and also from the Democrats in the House and in the Senate, have been to have the tin cup out to the American, say, “We want more of your money so that we can decide how best to stimulate the economy.”

“What we do in this bill is say, “We trust the American employer; we trust Americans to create jobs.” We do this by lowering the tax burden, by creating jobs.

“And if you look at empirical data from the last 40 years, any time you have truly stimulated the economy, it’s been through tax cuts, not through tax increases.

“That’s why I want to go with the winner. This bill is a winner.”

Rich Dunn, the chief of staff from the Washington office, told the Minnesota staff Friday that former state Sen. Sean Nienow, who has been Bachmann’s district director, is out and will be replaced by Julie Quist of St. Peter.

Quist has been on the cutting edge of the Minnesota social conservative movement for more than a decade. She was a full partner with her husband Allen Quist in a stunning political accomplishment of 1994, when they defeated Arne Carlson, a sitting Republican governor, for endorsement (although Carlson beat Quist in a primary and was re-elected). The Quists beat Carlson within the GOP base substantially on Carlson’s liberal positions on social issues like abortion and gay rights. In recent years, she has been a leader at EdWatch, a far-right advocacy group on education issues.

Julie Quist and Bachmann are personally and ideologically close and worked together when Bachmann was in the Minnesota Senate and led the charge to kill a state-mandated educational curriculum known as the Profiles of Learning. For Quist and Bachmann, the profiles were a Trojan horse for what they considered a secular humanism agenda. Quist and Bachmann share a passionate opposition to same-sex marriage.

Longtime Star Tribune political reporter Dane Smith described Quist as “a savvy and tireless political operative, organizer and campaigner who was always right there on the edge of whatever issue the social conservatives were pushing.”

Smith said he could imagine Bachmann benefitting from Quist’s skills as re-election time rolls around, but “if she’s looking to moderate  her image or her positions even a little, this is not the move to make.”

Other staff changes

Two members of the Washington staff  have already left in the last few days.  Legislative Assistant Erika Nelsen (a holdover from the staff of Bachmann’s predecessor, Rep. Mark Kennedy) and Legislative Correspondent Tara Westby (an unsuccessful Republican candidate for the state House of Represenatives in 2006) are gone.

Bachmann’s spokester, Heidi Frederickson (also a Kennedy holdover), is no longer returning press calls and will soon leave the office.

A certain amount of staff turnover is common during a congressperson’s first term. But this is an above average amount and Bachmann hasn’t completed the first half of her term yet.

When the dust settles from the current shakeup, Bachmann, who is already on her second chief of staff, will have replaced most of her top management.

The Bachmann office is not confirming any of these changes and is acting totally squirrelly about it. All questions are referred to Washington Staff Chief Dunn, who doesn’t return calls or e-mails.

The receptionist at the Bachmann St. Cloud office hung up on a constituent when he asked to know the name of the head of Bachmann’s Minnesota operations.

Tinklenberg, who is also a former mayor of Blaine, and banker Bob Olson are seeking the DFL endorsement in that race. The AFL-CIO endorsement, while important, is not much of a surprise, since the AFL-CIO strongly backed Tinklenberg in 2006, when he narrowly lost an endorsement race for the same congressional seat to children’s advocate Patty Wetterling. (Wetterling won the nomination but lost the general election to Bachmann.)

But in that 2006 race, the politically powerful government workers’ union, the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), endorsed Wetterling over Tinklenberg. AFSCME interviewed the 6th District candidates last night but hasn’t yet announced an endorsement.

Tinklenberg is favored against Olson for the DFL endorsement. If AFSCME were to endorse Olson, the race would appear more competitive. One source told me yesterday that some of the AFSCME leaders had apologized to Tinklenberg for endorsing his opponent in 2006, which would seem to bode well for his chances of getting the AFSCME endorsement this time and put him in a commanding position in the race for DFL endorsement.

Poring over Bachmann’s financial disclosures, he discovered that while Bachmann voted on July 27 against the farm bill, her husband’s family has collected more than $125,000 in government subsidies between 2001 and 2005 for their 949-acre farm in Independence, Wis. — and some of it, the records show, ended up her pockets (although we don’t know how much; Bachmann wouldn’t answer any questions).

Bachmann has done nothing illegal, Bremer points out, but “it does raise questions about the sincerity of Bachmann’s belief in smaller government and her opposition to entitlement programs when she partakes in them herself.”

As you may have heard, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann is asking local TV stations to yank an Americans United for Change 30-second spot, currently running on Twin Cities stations that pounds her for supporting Pres. Bush’s veto of the SCHIP bill.  A letter to the stations from the chief of her congressional staff (but written on Bachmann for Congress stationery) calls the ad “false” and “stunningly deceptive.”

Her particular complaint is pretty lame. The ad says that “Bush and Bachmann would rather send half a trillion dollars to Iraq than spend a fraction of that here at home to keep our kids healthy.”

Bachmann’s argument is that only 20 percent of the funds for the Iraq war have been appropriated since she took office. But Bachmann has supported the war since its inception, and has never uttered peep one of complaint about its cost or about other things that could be done with the money. This argument has been well-ventilated in the blogosphere this week.

As an ink-stained history nerd who covered Bachmann’s successful 2006 race for Congress against Patty Wetterling, and who wrote regular ad-watch pieces on my former Strib blog, The Big Question, my particular contribution is to review her position on false and deceptive advertising in general, which is, in short:

Bachmann likes false and deceptive advertising when she pays for it, or when it is paid for by others on her behalf.

Read more at  Eric Black Ink.

The Uptake’s master plan: City Pages new managing editor Matt Smith gives kudos to The Uptake, a citizen-media group that shot man-on-the-street video questions and submitted them to YouTube’s Democratic debates. Thanks to their efforts, Minneapolis’ Marcus Benson met the world with his question about taxes. But this cadre of media heavy-hitters — including activist and sculptor Jason Barnett; Minnesota Stories‘ Chuck Olsen; New Patriot blogger Chris Dykstra; Mike McIntee, Inside Minnesota Politics podcast producer; and former Keith Ellison communications expert Bridget Cusick — has a bigger goal: training as many as 100 amateur videographers to cover the Republican National Convention, the Democratic convention in Denver and the Iowa caucuses. Writes Smith, “The plan is to train video-equipped ordinary Joes to cover three aspects of the convention: the Republicans and their sponsors, the stories behind the protestors, and how traditional media cover the event.”

Ode treads lightly in Bachmann profile: The title “Watching her step” could apply to both the subject and author of a July 23 Star Tribune profile on Rep. Michelle Bachmann, writes City Pages’ G.R. Anderson. Kim Ode’s piece “glosses over” the controversy that erupted when Bachmann claimed to know of a plan to partition Iraq, repeated the story that Bachmann’s career started “almost by chance” when she ran for statehouse (her opponent called it “absolute bullshit”), and offered a heavy dose of fashion — including, Anderson points out, plenty of references to footwear. “In the age of declining readership and sharp media scrutiny, no one could really fault the old Star and Sickle for straining to hook the Fair and Balanced crowd,” writes Anderson. “Still, would it hurt the paper’s credibility to be even slightly critical of our daffiest congressional member?”

Got a tip for Media Monitor? Email us your media news.