Bachmann Campaign Press Release - Bachmann Clear Leader at GOP Presidential Debate

Tampa, Fla. — Fresh off the campaign trail, Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann demonstrated tonight at the CNN-Tea Party GOP Presidential Debate that she is the only candidate who reflects the values and principles of the conservative movement, asserting her positions on economic growth, social security, healthcare mandates and immigration.

Commanding the start of the debate, Bachmann demonstrated her courageous leadership in order to ensure the voice of the American people was expressed in the halls of the United States Congress. "I think we can do so much better in this country. That's why I'm the chief author of the bill to repeal Dodd Frank, the bill to repeal Obamacare. And that's why I brought the voice of the Tea Party to the United States Congress as the founder of the Tea Party Caucus," said Bachmann.

Bachmann has been a consistent leader in pro-growth, pro-job policies in both the State of Minnesota and in the U.S. Congress. The former federal tax attorney and small business owner remarked about the need for economic leadership in the White House that will cut national spending, lower taxes and foster job creation.

Bachmann offered her economic solutions saying, "You've got to draw the line in the sand somewhere and say 'no more out-of-control spending.' We've got $1.2 trillion already that's been earned by American companies overseas. If we have a zero percent tax rate we can bring that $1.2 trillion — it's called repatriation — bring that in. You'd have $1.2 trillion flooded into the system. Then pass the Free Trade Agreements so that we can move the economy. Permanently lower the tax code. It's easy to turn around this economy. Just have the backbone to do it."


However, Bachmann noted our government has failed to deliver on the promises afforded to our seniors who have spent their working lives contributing to our economy. "One thing that we need to let senior citizens know is for those who are currently on the Social Security system, the United States government made a promise, and we have to keep that promise to them," said Bachmann.

She continued, "These are programs that need to be saved to serve people, and in their current form, they can't. I'm a person that's had feet in the private sector and a foot in the federal government. I've been there long enough to know the problems, but not long enough to become a part of the system. I know what to do and I have a core of conviction to be able to make the changes that senior citizens can count on."

When the debate turned to the constitutionality of healthcare mandates, Bachmann was in a unique position to voice her opinion as mother of three daughters; "To have innocent little 12-year old girls be forced to have a government injection through an executive order is just flat out wrong. That's a violation of a liberty interest. Little girls who have a negative reaction to this potentially dangerous drug don't get a mulligan. They don't get a do-over. The parents don't get a do-over. And that's why; again, we have to have someone who's absolutely committed to the repeal of Obamacare. And I am. I won't rest until it's repealed."

Following Gov. Perry's rebuttal to Bachmann's assertion that his HPV vaccine mandate was immoral, she fired back saying, "We cannot forget that in the midst of this executive order there was a big drug company that made millions of dollars because of this mandate. It's wrong for a drug company because the Governor's former Chief of Staff was the chief lobbyist for this drug company — a drug company that gave thousands of dollars in political donations to the Governor. The question is, is it about life or was it about millions of dollars or potentially billions for a drug company?"

While Bachmann's opponents continued to argue their views on immigration, she made her position clear. "I think that the American way is not to give taxpayer-subsidized benefits to people who have broken our laws or are here in the United States illegally. That is not the American way," Bachmann said. "What works is to have people to come to the United States with a little bit of money in their pocket, legally, with sponsors, so that if anything happens to them, they don't fall back on the taxpayers to take care of them. That's the American way."

The committed, principled, conservative leader concluded a strong debate performance by saying the essential items she would bring to the White House would be her core sense of conviction, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.