Abyan+G

Criminal Congresswoman

Original story from the Star Tribune [|Bachmann Won't Fill Out Census]

I first heard of Rep. Bachmann's decision on the [|Colbert Report]. Since the show is a comedy news show, I researched the topic and found this article. I choose it because it is published by a Minnesota paper, Bachmann's home state. I found it disturbing that a representative of the United States Congress, is openly speaking about breaking a federal law.  The [|Star Tribune] is known to be a left leaning paper, although in this article they did a good job staying politically neutral. But, they were slightly biased favoring the U.S. Census Bureau over Bachmann. The only thing the article is missing is how the citizens themselves feel about the census. The tone of the article is serious and very informative. They made sure to give Bachmann's reasons for her decision and the Census Bureau's reaction. The purpose of the article was to inform Michele Bachmann's constituents of her decisions.

Bachmann is refusing to fill out the census, stating "I'm saying, for myself and my family, our comfort level is we will comply with the Constitution Article I Section II, we will give the number of people in our home, and that's where we're going to draw the line." She only decided to fill out the number of people in her house, when she realized it would affect her job if they had an inaccurate count of the population. The reason that they even started the census was to see how many representatives a state needed, based on its population. Bachmann feels that answering these questions is invading her privacy, but not answering the other questions could endagers someone elses livelihood.

Bachmann, by not filling out the Census form is breaking a federal law. While no one has been charged before, the fine could be up to 5,000 dollars. In this time of economic crisis is Rep. Bachmann saying that people should pay that much to keep their 'privacy'? Bachmann is allowing her personal opinions to cloud her judgement and is leading her constituents on the wrong path. Does Bachmann want the citizens to commit this crime and end up with a federal misdemeanor. With her crazy conspiracies and outlandish comments, Bachmann is failing to act in a way befitting a United States Represenative.

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