Commentary: What Losing Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) Means to the GOP

                                           

(Above: Jeanette Rankin, the first female to be elected to Congress. Courtesy of Wikipedia)

Often when one associates the role women play in politics and which political party or ideology they associate with, it is a no doubter: most are liberals, members of the Democratic Party.  Such stalwart politicians who were/are women include(d) Eleanor Roosevelt, who was the first modern politically-active female politician in the U.S., the First Lady of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and founder of the United Nations and champion of liberal politics for years after her unfaithful husband's death in 1945; Geraldine Ferraro, who was the first female vice presidential candidate during the 1984 campaign of Democratic presidential hopeful Walter Mondale; Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer of California; and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who was the first female Speaker of the House of Representatives.  And we cannot forget the legendary, controversial pacifist congresswoman Jeanette Rankin, the first woman to ever serve in Congress.  Let it be known that she was a Republican and a pacifist, and voted against both world wars in 1917 and 1941, respectively.

(Above: Trio of female Democratic politicians past and present - on top is Geraldine Ferraro, who was the first female to run as the vice presidential candidate in a presidential election; bottom left is Sen. Dianne Feinstein and to the right is Sen. Barbara Boxer, both from California.)

However, during the time of Jeanette Rankin, the political climate was much different.  Even though she remained a member of the Republican Party her entire life, including when  she considered running again for a seat in Congress in her 80's during the early 1970's prior to her death at age 92 in order to protest the Vietnam War, she became one of the last of a breed of women within the Republican Party for many years.  It would not be until the 1990's that the GOP would see an influx of female politicians run for, and be elected, to public office.  Such politicians as Elizabeth Dole and Kay Bailey Hutchison won seats in the U.S. Senate from North Carolina and Texas, respectively.  However, neither one was particularly dynamic politically, with Dole being elected out of her seat in the Senate 2009 during a time of great turbulence for the GOP in national politics, while Hutchison forfeited her seat in order to run for the Republican nomination for governor of Texas against one of the 2012 GOP presidential nominees and gubernatorial incumbent Rick Perry, who easily defeated her.  In her place now is Ted Cruz, a man who many consider to have a bright future within the national Republican Party in Washington.  One of the major criticisms of Hutchison was her pro-choice stance on abortion, which did not sit well with many conservatives in Texas and Washington.  Dole's attacks of "godlessness" against Democratic challenger Kay Hagen in a controversial commercial proved to be her fait accompli.  She was soundly defeated in the election of 2008.

(Above: Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, who is being encouraged by the Tea Party and the people of Alaska to run for the state's vacant U.S. Senate seat.)

However, within the past five years, two women who are of outstanding character have influenced the GOP greatly through their activities within the Tea Party.  One is Sarah Palin, who ran as the conservative balance to the moderate-to-centrist Sen. John McCain for the presidency in 2008 as his vice presidential candidate.  She was governor of Alaska from 2006-09, and a relative unknown on the national stage until she ran on the GOP presidential ticket in 2008.  Still in her 40's, she is fairly young, vibrant, and therefore energetic, and many still believe she could be a viable candidate for president of the United States should she ever choose to run.

(Above: Rep. Michele Bachmann, who serves the 6th Congressional District of Minnesota.  Courtesy of Wikipedia)

The other major female figure in the GOP I want to talk about is none other than Rep. Michele Bachmann, the individual who is the main topic of this article.  Bachmann has served as the congresswoman from Minnesota's 6th congressional district since 2007 and ran for the Republican nomination for president of the United States in 2012.  It should be pointed out that Bachmann was the first woman from Minnesota to be elected to Congress.  She won the Ames Straw Poll in August 2011 before dropping out after a sixth place finish in the Iowa caucuses in January 2012.

Bachmann is a true champion of liberty and the foundations upon which this nation was founded.  She was much like former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in that she was a conviction politician, going against the grain often at the expense of her political fortunes.  Here are some of her actions she took as congresswoman, courtesy of Wikipedia:

• In January 2007, a resolution was approved in the House of Representatives opposing President George W. Bush's plan to increase troop levels in Iraq. Bachmann voted "No". However, before supporting the proposed surge, Bachmann called for a full hearing, saying, "The American people deserve to hear and understand the merits of increasing U.S. troop presence in Iraq. Increased troop presence is justifiable if that measure would bring a swift conclusion to a difficult conflict." She hesitated to give a firm endorsement, calling the hearings "a good first step in explaining to the American people the course toward victory in Iraq." When pressed, she said she had not come to any conclusion on the matter, saying, "I don't believe we have all of the information in front of us. As a member of Congress that's why I want to go to Iraq as quickly as I can. I want to get the best information in front of me."
• In July 2007, Bachmann joined a Congressional delegation visiting Ireland, Germany, Pakistan, Kuwait and Iraq. Bachmann met briefly (due to security concerns) with U.S. personnel in the Green Zone and upon her return she said she "was encouraged by reports of progress from Crocker, Gen. David Petraeus and other personnel in Iraq linked to the surge." She said the surge "hasn't had a chance to be in place long enough to offer a critique of how it's working. (Gen. Petraeus) said al-Qaida in Iraq is off its plan and we want to keep it that way. The surge has only been fully in place for a week or so." Bachmann also spoke of the delegation's visit to Islamabad to meet Pakistani Prime Minister Aziz at the same time as the siege of Islamic fundamentalists at the Lal Masjid mosque elsewhere in the city. She reported that "The group [of U.S. Legislators] had to travel in armored vehicles and was constantly accompanied by Pakistani military....We were all able to see extremely up close and personal what it's like to be in a region where fighting is occurring. We constantly felt like we were in need of security." Bachmann told reporters upon her return that "the dangers posed by Islamic terrorism in Iraq, Britain and Pakistan justified the continued American military presence in Iraq." She said "We don't want to see al-Qaida get a presence in the United States. Al-Qaida doesn't seem to show any signs of letting up. We have to keep that in mind."
• On July 11, 2007, Bachmann voted against the College Cost Reduction and Access Act that would raise the maximum Pell grant from $4,310 to $5,200, lower interest rates on subsidized student loans to 3.4 percent from 6.8 percent, raise loan limits to $30,500 from $7,500, disfavor married students who file joint tax returns, provide more favorable repayment terms to students who fail to use their education to prosper financially and favor public sector over private sector workers with much more favorable loan forgiveness benefits. Supporters of the bill said "it would allow more students to attend college." Bachmann said her opposition was because "it fails students and taxpayers with gimmicks, hidden costs and poorly targeted aid. It contains no serious reform of existing programs, and it favors the costly, government-run direct lending program over nonprofit and commercial lenders." The bill passed the House and was signed by President Bush.
• During the summer of 2008, as national gasoline prices rose to over $4 a gallon, Bachmann became a leading Congressional advocate for increased domestic oil and natural gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and the Outer Continental Shelf. She joined 10 other House Republicans and members of the media on a Congressional Energy Tour to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, and to Alaska. The trip was set up by Arctic Power, an Alaskan lobbying group that advocates for ANWR development. The purpose of the trip was to receive a first hand account of emerging renewable energy technologies and the prospects of increased domestic oil and natural gas production in Alaska, including ANWR.
• Bachmann has rejected global warming and has been a vocal skeptic of global warming. She has held the view that carbon dioxide is "a natural byproduct of nature" and is a beneficial gas required by plant life. She stated that because life requires carbon dioxide and it is part of the planet's life cycle, it cannot be harmful. In a statement she made on the House floor on Earth Day, April 22, 2009, Bachmann stated she was against the cap and trade climate legislation, stating: "Carbon dioxide is not a harmful gas, it is a harmless gas. Carbon dioxide is natural; it is not harmful.... We're being told we have to reduce this natural substance to create an arbitrary reduction in something that is naturally occurring in the earth."
• In March 2008 Bachmann introduced H.R. 849, the Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act. If passed, it would repeal two sections of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, signed into law by George W. Bush. The 2007 Energy Act mandates energy efficiency and labeling standards for incandescent and fluorescent bulbs. Bachmann's bill would require the Government Accountability Office to show that a change to fluorescent bulbs would have "clear economic, health and environmental benefits" prior to enforcement of lighting efficiency regulations. The bill would allow these standards to remain in place if the comptroller general found they would lead to consumer savings, reduced carbon-dioxide emissions and pose no health risks to consumers (such as risks posed by the presence of mercury in fluorescent bulbs). The bill languished in the House and became inactive at the end of the 110th Congress. Bachmann reintroduced the bill in March 2011.
• On June 3, 2008, President George W. Bush signed the Credit and Debit Card Receipt Clarification Act (H.R. 4008) into law. The bipartisan bill, which Bachmann cosponsored with Congressman Tim Mahoney (D-Fla.), removes statutory damages for violations of a 2003 federal law prohibiting merchants from printing consumers' credit card numbers and expiration dates on sales receipts, in order to end class-action lawsuits aimed at businesses that violated the law.
• Bachmann opposed both versions of the Wall Street bailout bill for America's financial sector. She voted against the first proposed $700 billion bailout of financial institutions, which failed to pass 205–228. She also advocated breaking up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and barring executives from excessive compensation or golden parachutes. However, she also advocated a plan that would suspend mark-to-market accounting rules and supported suspending the capital gains tax. 
• On March 26, 2009, following comments by China proposing adoption of a global reserve currency, Bachmann introduced a resolution calling for a constitutional amendment to bar the dollar from being replaced by a foreign currency. Current law prohibits foreign currency from being recognized in the U.S., but Bachmann expressed concerns relating to the President's power to make and interpret treaties. Earlier that month, at a Financial Services Committee hearing, Bachmann asked both Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke if they would reject calls for the U.S. to move away from the U.S. dollar and they replied that they would reject such a call.
• In a June 17, 2009, interview with The Washington Times, Bachmann expressed concern that the questions on the 2010 United States Census had become "very intricate, very personal" and that ACORN, a community organizing group that had come under fire the previous year, might be part of the Census Bureau's door-to-door information collection efforts. She stated, "I know for my family the only question we will be answering is how many people are in our home, we won't be answering any information beyond that, because the Constitution doesn't require any information beyond that."  Fellow Republican Representatives Patrick McHenry (N.C.), Lynn Westmoreland (Ga.) and John Mica (Fla.) -- members of the Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census and National Archives, which oversees the census -- subsequently asked Bachmann not to boycott the population count. Along with Congressman Ted Poe (Tex.-02), Bachmann introduced the American Community Survey Act to limit the amount of personal information solicited by the U.S. Census Bureau. She reiterated her belief that the census asks too many personal questions.
• In 2009, Bachmann became a critic of what she characterized as proposals for mandatory public service. Speaking in reference to the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, an expansion to AmeriCorps (a federal community service organization), she said in April: "It's under the guise of—quote—volunteerism. But it's not volunteers at all. It's paying people to do work on behalf of government. ... I believe that there is a very strong chance that we will see that young people will be put into mandatory service. And the real concerns is that there are provisions for what I would call re-education camps for young people, where young people have to go and get trained in a philosophy that the government puts forward and then they have to go to work in some of these politically correct forums." 
• The American auto companies approached Congress to ask for roughly $15 billion in loans to keep them operational into 2009. Bachmann criticized that bill, fearing that the initial sum of money would be followed by subsequent ones without the companies making changes to revive their business. Bachmann supported an alternative rescue for the American auto companies and the rest of the auto industry rather than the plan that passed. Bachmann's alternative would have set benchmarks for reducing their debt and renegotiating labor deals and would set up the financial assistance as interim insurance instead of a taxpayer-financed bailout.
• Soon after being sworn in to her third term, Bachmann introduced legislation to repeal the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. She stated, "I'm pleased to offer a full repeal of the job-killing Dodd-Frank financial regulatory bill. Dodd-Frank grossly expanded the federal government beyond its jurisdictional boundaries. It gave Washington bureaucrats the power to interpret and enforce the legislation with little oversight. Real financial regulatory reform must deal with these lenders who were a leading cause of our economic recession. True reform must also end the bailout mind-set that was perpetuated by the last Congress." She also took issue with the law for not addressing the liabilities of the tax-payer funded Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Bachmann's bill was endorsed by conservative groups such as the Club for Growth and Americans for Prosperity. It gained four other Republican co-sponsors, including Rep. Darrell Issa, who became the new chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee at the start of the 112th Congress. Bachmann's call for total repeal was seen as more drastic than the approach advocated by her fellow Republican Spencer Bachus who became the House Financial Services Committee Chairman with the change of majority in the House. Bachus "plans to provide ''vigorous'' oversight of regulators efforts to reform banking and housing...reform Fannie and Freddie", and "dismantle pieces of [the] Dodd-Frank Act that he believes 'unnecessarily punish small businesses and community banks.'" In response to Bachmann's legislation Rep. Barney Frank stated, "Michele Bachmann, the Club for Growth, and others in the right-wing coalition have now made their agenda for the financial sector very clear: they yearn to return to the thrilling days of yesteryear, so the loan arrangers can ride again -- untrammeled by any rules restraining irresponsibility, excess, deception, and most of all, infinite leverage." The chances of Bachmann's legislation passing were viewed as unlikely, The Financial Times wrote that "Like the Republican move to repeal healthcare reform, Ms Bachmann's bill could be passed by the House of Representatives but be blocked by the Senate or White House."
• Bachmann responded to President Obama's 2011 State of the Union speech for the Tea Party Express website; this speech was broadcast live by CNN. She insisted that her response was not intended to counter the official Republican party response by Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. When asked if the speech was an indication of competition with Ryan and Speaker Boehner's leadership team, Bachmann dismissed such a view as "a fiction of the media", she had alerted Ryan and the leadership team that her response might go national and no objections were raised.
• Bachmann has characterized the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as "Obama Care", and has continually called for its repeal. She recalled to reporters that she called for debate to repeal the act "the morning after Obama Care passed." Joining with Rep. Steve King she introduced "the Bachmann-King repeal of health care bill" stating that it "is our intent in our heart to make sure that Obama Care is completely repealed." In light of a Democratic held Senate and Presidency that oppose repeal, Bachmann called on the Republican held House of Representatives to not provide any funds for the implementation of the act "But until we can see that [repeal] happen, we want to fully defund this bill so that, like, it would be akin to a helium balloon that gets no helium inside so that it can't take off the ground, and that's what we're planning to do. I'm very, very grateful for nothing else; having a majority in the House of Representatives so that we have the ability of the power of the purse to not fund Obama Care, and this is exactly the right way to go.  On March 4, 2011, Bachmann (who was one of the six House Republicans to vote against the continuing resolution) expressed her unhappiness with the move that gave a two-week reprieve to the fear of government shutdown, stating "I am vowing to vote 'no' on future Continuing Resolutions to fund the government unless there is specific language included to defund Obamacare and rescind the funding that has already been appropriated. Defunding Obama Care, along with defunding Planned Parenthood, must be non-negotiable planks in our budget negotiations." On March 4, 2011, Bachmann (who was one of the six House Republicans to vote against the continuing resolution) expressed her unhappiness with the move that gave a two-week reprieve to the fear of government shutdown, stating "I am vowing to vote 'no' on future Continuing Resolutions to fund the government unless there is specific language included to defund Obama Care and rescind the funding that has already been appropriated. Defunding Obama Care, along with defunding Planned Parenthood, must be non-negotiable planks in our budget negotiations." 
• In June–July 2012, Bachmann and several other Republican legislators sent a series of letters to oversight agencies at five federal departments citing "serious security concerns" about what Bachmann has called a "deep penetration in the halls of our United States government" by the Muslim Brotherhood. They requested formal investigations into what Bachmann called "influence operations" by the Brotherhood. 
• According to an article in The Stillwater Gazette, a local newspaper in Minnesota, Bachmann supports the teaching of creationism alongside evolution in public school science classes.  During a 2003 interview on the KKMS Christian radio program Talk The Walk, Bachmann said that evolution is a theory that has never been proven one way or the other. She co-authored a bill (that received no additional endorsement among her fellow legislators) that would require public schools to include alternative explanations for the origin of life as part of the state's public school science curricula. In October 2006, Bachmann told a debate audience in St. Cloud, Minnesota "there is a controversy among scientists about whether evolution is a fact or not.... There are hundreds and hundreds of scientists, many of them holding Nobel Prizes, who believe in intelligent design." Bachmann has a history of opposing anti-bullying legislation. In 2006, she told the Minnesota Legislature that passing an anti-bullying bill would be a waste of time. "I think for all of us, our experience in public schools is there have always been bullies," Bachmann said. "Always have been, always will be. I just don't know how we're ever going to get to the point of zero tolerance... What does it mean?... Will we be expecting boys to be girls?"
• In the Minnesota Senate, Bachmann opposed minimum wage increases. In an interview in late June 2011, Bachmann did not back away from her earlier proposal to eliminate the federal minimum wage, a change she said would "virtually wipe out unemployment." In a 2001 flyer, Bachmann and Michael J. Chapman wrote that federal policies manage a centralized, state-controlled economy in the United States. She wrote that education laws passed by Congress in 2001, including "School To Work" and "Goals 2000", created a new national school curriculum that embraced "a socialist, globalist worldview; loyalty to all government and not America." In 2003, Bachmann said that the "Tax Free Zones" economic initiatives of Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty were based on the Marxist principle of "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs." She also said that the administration was attempting to govern and run centrally planned economies through an organization called the Minnesota Economic Leadership Team (MELT), an advisory board on economic and workforce policy chaired by Pawlenty. Prior to her election to the state senate, and again in 2005, Bachmann signed a "no new taxes" pledge sponsored by the Taxpayers League of Minnesota. As a state senator, Bachmann introduced two bills that would have severely limited state taxation. In 2003, she proposed amending the Minnesota state constitution to adopt the "Taxpayers' Bill of Rights" (TABOR). In 2005, Bachmann opposed Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty's proposal for a state surcharge of 75 cents per pack on the wholesale cost of cigarettes. Bachmann said that she opposed the state surcharge "100 percent – it's a tax increase." 
• Bachmann supports increased domestic drilling of oil and natural gas, as well as pursuing renewable sources of energy such as wind and solar. She is a strong proponent of nuclear power. Bachmann has stated a strong opposition toward the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), pledging at an August 2011 campaign rally, "...I guarantee you the EPA will have doors locked and lights turned off and they will only be about conservation."
• Bachmann has called for phasing out Social Security and Medicare: "...what you have to do, is keep faith with the people that are already in the system, that don't have any other options, we have to keep faith with them. But basically what we have to do is wean everybody else off."
• Bachmann says in dealing with Iran, diplomacy "is our option", but that other options, including a nuclear strike, shouldn't be taken off the table.  She has also said that she is "a long time supporter of Israel."
• In a discussion about the G-20 summit in Toronto, during an interview with conservative radio host Scott Hennen, Bachmann  stated that she does not want America to be part of the international global economy. On economists who have influenced her views, Bachmann told The Wall Street Journal, ... the late Milton Friedman as well as Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams. "I'm also an Art Laffer fiend—we're very close," she adds. "And [Ludwig] von Mises. I love von Mises," getting excited and rattling off some of his classics like Human Action and Bureaucracy. "When I go on vacation and I lay on the beach, I bring von Mises."
• Bachmann believes that strengthened enforcement of immigration laws is required for the growth of the American job market. She supports amending the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow only the immediate family of legal immigrants (not extended family members) priority consideration in the immigration process. She voted against the DREAM Act. She has also stated that the current law does not need modification but proper enforcement. Bachmann said: "... the immigration system in the United States worked very, very well up until the mid-1960s when liberal members of Congress changed the immigration laws."  Bachmann has expressed support for immigration of highly-skilled professionals such as chemists and engineers. 
• Bachmann supports both a federal and state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and any legal equivalents.  In August 2006, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that in March 2006, Bachmann was on a Minneapolis radio show advocating for a state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. A caller asked her to explain how he, a heterosexual, would be harmed if his gay neighbors were allowed to marry. Bachmann replied saying, "Public schools would have to teach that homosexuality and same-sex marriage are normal, natural and that maybe children should try them." The Star Tribune also reported that Bachmann has publicly referred to homosexuality as "sexual dysfunction," "sexual identity disorders," and "personal enslavement" that leads to "sexual anarchy."
• Bachmann has identified herself as pro-life and has been endorsed in her runs for Congress by the Susan B. Anthony List and Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life. At a debate among presidential candidates in New Hampshire, when asked if abortion should be allowed in cases of rape or incest, Bachmann responded that she is "100 per cent pro-life." In the state senate, Bachmann introduced a bill proposing a constitutional amendment restricting state funds for abortion. The bill died in committee.
• Bachmann had never been part of the so-called birther movement but had said President Obama could resolve the dispute by producing the his long-form birth certificate. In April 2011, after Obama released the certificate, Bachmann was asked about the issue on Good Morning America by George Stephanopoulos. She said that its release "should settle the matter", that "I take the President at his word", and that "We have bigger fish to fry."

On May 29, 2013, Michele Bachmann announced publicly she would not seek another term in the U.S. House of Representatives.  She did not express any particular reason why. Though she denies a number of factors that may actually be attributed to compelling her to depart, it is my belief that there are two major reasons why she chose to not run in 2014:

• She is under investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics, the Federal Election Commission, the Iowa Senate Ethics Committee, the Urbandale Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation because of alleged campaign finance violations in her 2012 campaign for President. It is alleged that members of her staff made under-the-table payments, that funds were illegally transferred from her leadership PAC to pay consultants for her presidential campaign and that hidden payments were made to Iowa State Senator Kent Sorenson. Additionally, a lawsuit has been filed alleging that Bachmann and several former staffers stole and misused an Iowa homeschool group's e-mail distribution list. The trial, Heki v. Bachmann, has been set for May 14, 2014.
• On January 25, 2012, Bachmann announced that she would run for reelection for her seat in Congress. According to Politico.com, as of July 2012, Bachmann has "raised close to $15 million" for the 2012 election, a figure it called "astounding ... more than some Senate candidates will collect this year." From July to the end of September, Bachmann raised $4.5 million. This amount put her ahead of all other members of congress (including Allen West who was in second place with $4 million) for the third quarter. Bachmann said that she was "humbled by the enormous outpouring of grassroots support for my campaign focused on keeping America the most secure and prosperous nation in the world." Despite a more favorable district Bachmann only narrowly won re-election, receiving just 4298 more votes than her DFL challenger Jim Graves.

These mitigating factors -- the scandals and her barely defeating Jim Graves in a district of Minnesota that tends to vote for Republicans -- lead me to conclude that she realized the "jig was up" for her as a congresswoman.  Nevertheless, Bachmann was a great champion of liberty for all Minnesotans and for those of us around the nation and the world, as well as of the conservative cause.  While I align myself more with Sen. Rand Paul's ideals -- that of being a conservative-libertarian -- and that the only real political belief on which I differ with Bachmann on being the issue of same-sex marriage (and let us keep in mind that I believe that in order to properly implement the legal right to for same-sex couples to marry, Congress has to pass a constitutional amendment that dissolves the current-Christian-imbued definition of "marriage" as I presented the legal definition of it in my article from May 3, 2013 titled "My Solution to the Same-Sex Marriage Issue: Repeal the Legal Definition of Marriage and Institute Universal Legal Civil Unions!" and create the legal standard of civil-unions for all people regardless of sexual orientation.  The purpose for doing this is to dissolve all essences of Judeo-Christian religious influences within the law.  People still have the right to get married under the old system, but it would not, under my idea, be recognized as a union "in holy matrimony" as defined by any one religion.  While I believe strongly that the United States was founded upon the principles of "the law of nature and the Law of nature's God," the Constitution does specifically state that there will be a separation of church and state, and under my idea or plan, it would honor that law.  By doing this, same-sex couples would be free and unfettered to be legally joined in a legally-recognized union without fear of church clergy or rabbis refusing to recognize their marriage, while also protecting religious institutions' First Amendment right to freedom of religion.

Bachmann will be missed as the great stateswoman she is by the conservative establishment in America and perhaps more so by the GOP.  This is a great loss for the GOP, not because they are going to lose seats in the House during the 2014 midterm congressional elections, but because one of the very few members of the party who is a woman, an outspoken woman at that, will be leaving the scene.  The lack of women who believe in the conservative cause is disturbing, leading me to believe that women such as Bachmann and Palin are two of a kind who believe in promoting personal responsibility and accountability, which most women who are liberals do not buy into.  I know I will miss how she challenged the Obama administration at every turn, and how she kept the GOP caucus within the House on its toes.  

Below is the video Rep. Bachmann posted on YouTube announcing her decision to not seek reelection to her seat as the House Representative from the 6th District in Minnesota: