Dec 11 Michele Bachmann Interview Notes

Thursday afternoon, I interviewed Rep. Michele Bachmann about H.R. 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009. One of the first points Rep. Bachmann made was that it centered too much power in the executive branch.

According to the legislation's language in Section 1101, the "Council and the Board are authorized to receive, and may request the production of, any data or information from members of the Council, as necessary (1) to monitor the financial services market place to identify potential threats to the stability of the United States financial system." The "Council and Board" are allowed to demand information from financial instituions without getting a search warrant.

When I asked whether this might constitute a violation of the Fourth Amendment, Rep. Bachmann said that it might indeed constitute a violation of a company's Fourth Amendment rights.

Rep. Bachmann also pointed out that this legislation would codify into law a bailout clause. She pointed me towards a document that the House GOP leadership put together titled "10 Reasons to Oppose H.R. 4173." That document quotes Rep. Brad Sherman, (D-Calif.), as saying this:

The bill establishes a permanent bailout authority or, as Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) described it, "TARP on steroids."

In other words, this legislation authorizes the president to spend money without going through the appropriations phase. That means that it eliminates Congress from debating the merits of whether the money should be spent. That should bother people immensely considering how irresponsible this administration is with its spending.

Rep. Bachmann said that this bill worries her more than any other bill she's fought against, "including the national energy tax and health care." That statement stunned me more than a little because I've seen how hard Rep. Bachmann has fought against the national energy tax and against Pelosicare.

The reason for Rep. Bachmann's worries are legitimate. She's worried about how much authority this legislation puts into the executive branch's hands. She said she's also worried about foundational constitutional principles that aren't being taken into consideration. In addition to the possible Fourth Amendment issues, the bill also ignores the principle of checks and balances. Unquestionably, that's part of the foundation that our Constitution is built on.

Despite all the worries Rep. Bachmann has about H.R. 4173, she remains encouraged that people are waking up to the threat posed by this administration's trampling of the Constitution.

Last weekend, Rep. Bachmann held her annual Christmas Party here in St. Cloud. During her brief presentation, she spoke about how encouraged she was by what she called the formation of "a liberty coalition." By that, Rep. Bachmann said that people of all political stripes are waking up to the fact that it isn't ok to write laws that ignore the Constitution's foundational principles. She noted that people of all political stripes don't want too much power given to the executive branch.

As a result of this administration's overreach, people are understanding why we need to adhere to the wisdom of the Constitution and our Founding Fathers.

On another note, Rep. Bachmann said that the administration is selling the health care legislation by saying that they have to pass the bill or else their base will abandon them, which will lead to their defeat. (It's important that I make clear that the reference to the elections was done in the context that that's how Democrats were selling health care. At no point did we talk election strategy or using the issue for political advantage.)

I interjected into the conversation that they're doomed if they pass this bill because independents are breaking against Democrats because they're spending too much and because people are rejecting the Democrats' health care legislation by wide margins:

Congress is working nights and weekends to pass legislation that Americans don't like, according to a Fox News poll released Thursday. A majority, 57 percent, oppose the health care reform legislation being considered right now. About a third of Americans, 34 percent, favor the reforms.

I consider this to be proof that people nationwide are worried about the level of spending that's happening and their worries about the Democrats' health care legislation.

Check back to this blog next week for a new series that I'm researching. The series will be about H.R. 4173, going through it section-by-section to provide you with the specific provisions to the bill that either concentrate too much authority in the executive branch or that ignore constitutional protections or that don't have the proper checks and balances codified into the legislation. (HINT: I just started and I've already found more provisions that I find troublesome.)

Comments welcome at LFR.