Speaking on the House floor late Tuesday, Bachmann paraphrased conservative columnist Michael Barone, saying: Now we've moved into the realm of gangster government. We have gangster government when the Federal Government has set up a new cartel and private businesses now have to go begging with their hand out to their local--hopefully well politically connected--Congressman or their Senator so they can buy a peace offering for that local business. Is that the kind of country we are going to have in the future? We need to call this for what this is, my colleagues. We need to call this for what this is. Call it out. The American people need to get outraged and figure out that it could be them next. No business is safe when you see the administration appoint czars--car czars, wage czars--there's over 20 czars that have been appointed. And what do those czars do? They bypass the Congress. We are the people's elected representatives; we have been bypassed. We now have an imperial presidency where the President has appointed various czars reporting directly to him.
Bachmann's language was fringe, but her message is strictly mainstream: Earlier today, a bipartisan group of reps -- led by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) formally introduced a bill that would halt the dealership closing plan, which has the approval of President Obama's automobile industry restructuring panel.
