Politics

Bachmann: Obama violating the Constitution and the Tenth Commandment

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GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann spoke to a crowd of conservative advocates at at the Family Research Council on Monday, focusing on her commitment to the Constitution and social issues.

Her speech was geared toward traditional values, but Bachmann took time to castigate President Barack Obama for failing to uphold the laws of the land.

“The purpose of government is to protect life, liberty, and property,” she said. “President Obama believes the purpose of government is to provide for our needs and some of our wants. And he is willing to engage in massive redistribution of wealth and the politics of envy to achieve this purpose.”

According to Bachmann not only is Obama violating the Constitution, he is also violating the 10th Commandment.

“The president’s economic policies, most notably Obamacare, represent the most ambitious social-economic engineering project in the history of this country. And they threaten to rewrite the fundamental assumptions of the role of government in Americans’ lives since the New Deal and the Great Society,” she said. “The Tenth Commandment teaches those shall not covet thy neighbor’s goods. It’s time to act on this self-evident truth.”

The Minnesota congresswoman targeted Republicans who have been soft on issues on which she has taken a firm stance.

“Sadly, far too many Republicans aspire to be frugal socialists,” she said. “The reason President Obama and some Republicans can get behind socialized medicine is because they share the same core political philosophy about the purpose of government. We cannot preserve liberty for ourselves and our posterity if the choice in next November is between a frugal socialist and an out-of-control socialist.”

Bachmann refused to elaborate on which candidates she considers to be “frugal socialists.” She did, however, promise full repeal of Obamacare.

“We cannot afford to have a candidate who doesn’t understand the complexity of Obamacare or the urgency of its repeal,” she said.

Bachmann, who has sunk in the polls since winning the Ames Staw Poll in August, attempted to portray herself as the candidate most devoted to the Constitution and most steadfast on issues of life, marriage, rejection of foreign law, debt reduction and combating over-regulation.

“For example, Congress used the Commerce Clause to close all of the incandescent light bulb factories in the United States and replace them with so-called environmentally friendly bulbs. In response, I introduced the Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act,” she said, explaining there are areas of life in which the government has no business meddling.

“As president, I guarantee you two things,” she went on to say. “First, I will veto every new law from Congress that seeks to add yet another layer of unconstitutional regulation under the guise of the Commerce Clause. Second, I will begin the process of reversing the damage from decades of Great Society-type programs,” she said.

Bachmann took issue with unnamed opponents, i.e. former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who have wavered on social issues like marriage.

“Some Republican candidates seem confused about [traditional marriage]. I am not — it is the core of my conviction,” she said, “I want a Federal Marriage Amendment so the courts cannot impose their will on us.”

Bachmann did not name any other GOP candidates, but spoke of “surprises” that have come out thus far — likely an allusion to Herman Cain’s sexual harassment charges or the name of Rick Perry’s old hunting grounds. She explained that she has no skeletons in her closet.

“This election season has been full of surprises,” she said. “I can assure you there are no surprises with me. I am far from a perfect person, but I know who I am and I will never deviate from the principles that I have fought for all of my life.”

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