Fading in the polls at the national level and in Iowa, where she claimed a big victory in the Republican straw poll in Ames in August, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann looked to get her campaign for the GOP presidential nomination back on track as she unveiled her jobs and economic plans on Tuesday -- and bashed President Barack Obamas economic record.
"It's evident that the current trajectory of our country is simply not sustainable and President Obama lacks the understanding of how to return to a position of economic prominence in the world," Bachmann said in a statement released by her team on Tuesday. "My blueprint will create an environment which will create real jobs here at home, and return America to a position of economic prominence in the world."
Bachmann called for cutting the size and scope of the federal government and for lower taxes.
I have already voted to cut federal spending in the years ahead, every single time I have had the opportunity, she insisted. In addition, I would phase out quasi-governmental enterprises, such as Fannie and Freddie, and eliminate duplicative government programs and costs. We must decrease government salaries to bring them in line with their private-sector counterparts, and we must decrease the number of government employees. Overspending by the government hurts job creation by devaluing the dollar and stealing capital from the private sector.
Bachmann specifically singled out the alternative minimum tax and the death tax for elimination. She also called for simplifying the corporate tax code as a way of keeping jobs in the United States.
The Minnesota congresswoman called for repealing the federal health-care law that Obama backed.
Health care is one-sixth of the U.S. economy and this unconstitutional takeover of health care by the federal government is creating crippling uncertainty for employers across this country, Bachmann said. This legislation does nothing to address the true problem with our health-care system -- cost -- and will cost states trillions. I believe it is an intentional backstop to imploding health-care entitlement programs -- Medicare and Medicaid -- to transition toward a single-payer system.
Pointing to a study from UBS on the health-care laws impact to the economy, Bachmann added, This is the No. 1 hindrance to job creation in the United States.
Bachmann promised to fight against federal regulations, including those from the federal Environmental Protection Agency she maintained were hurting the economy, and called forrepeal of the Dodd-Frank Act.
Bachmann also called for more energy exploration, arguing that it could help give a boost to the American economy.
This could create 1.4 million jobs, bringing $800 billion of new revenue into the U.S. Treasury, and increasing domestic energy supplies by 50 percent, Bachmann insisted. The price of energy has a direct impact on nearly ever facet of our lives. We have to abandon the parochial and political energy policies of the past and install a comprehensive energy plan that not only reduces our reliance on unfriendly foreign regimes, but also creates millions of American jobs and generates increased tax revenues.
According to the Congressional Research Service, the U.S. has more energy potential than any other country in the world, Bachmann added. We should use that potential. It is a better policy to create American jobs and explore in an environmentally-sound way, than to rely on foreign dictators who give little regard to the environment. This includes specific strategies like reviving the logging, timber, mining and metals industries, and bringing federal lands back into productive activity by repealing radical environmental laws that kill access to natural resources.
Bachmann promised to fight for free trade and offered harsh words for Obamas handling of agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea, which were finally released to Congress earlier this month after years of political negotiations. The congresswoman also called for increased manufacturing and technological education.
The Minnesotan also weighed into the immigration debate in her economic plan.
The failure of the federal government to enforce its immigration laws costs federal, state and local governments billions of dollars annually, Bachmann noted. Our nation was founded on the rule of law, and we must ensure U.S. immigration laws are respected and enforced not only to preserve our national security, but to protect federal, state, and local budgets, and to curb the unfair strain on our country's job markets.
"My solutions are simple, said Bachmann in closing. We need to cut government spending, legalize America's God-given natural resources, and stop taxing investment and productivity. In other words, we need to do what growing economies do."
Bachmann enjoyed a brief surge of momentum during the summer when she moved up in the national polls and won the Iowa Republican Straw Poll in Ames back in August. Since that time, she has moved back to single digits in most national polls and even her support in Iowa, where she was born, seems to be drying up. While Bachmann led polls of the Hawkeye State toward the end of summer, an NBC/Marist poll released on Tuesday found her tied with Texas Gov. Rick Perry for fourth place with 10 percent, behind former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, businessman Herman Cain and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
