Bachmann Boasts about “Titanium Spine” and Promises she “Will Not” Vote to Raise Debt Ceiling

Republican presidential candidate, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., right, is rushed past the news media as she departs a National Press Club luncheon in Washington, Thursday, July 28, 2011. . (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann told reporters President Obama still has no plan to deal with the debt crisis.

"It's unthinkable but he still has no plan," the Minnesota congresswoman said Thursday during a question and answer session at the National Press Club in Washington.

Bachmann has been one of the loudest opponents of the debt ceiling hike for months and continued stepping up her rhetoric: "I won't raise taxes, I will reduce spending and I won't vote to raise the debt ceiling, and I have the titanium spine to see it through."

Bachmann said she plans to vote against the House Speaker's latest plan even though there are few other options. "John Boehner has produced not one but two plans, will the president produce a plan?" asked Bachmann. "The clock is striking 11:59, it's fairly late for the president to get involved but he needs to get engaged."

When asked what the appropriate level of debt for the U.S. government to carry is, Bachmann's answer was light on specifics. "Less, a lot less... There may be times when we do need to increase the debt, particularly in emergencies, but this is not the situation we are in right now."

The debt ceiling wasn't the only tough topic Bachmann tacked at the press club, she has faced some intense criticism from the gay community over whether a clinic she owns with her husband engages in "gay re-education" or tries to counsel people with the goal of ending or changing their homosexuality.

The congresswoman was asked if she thought that kind of therapy actually worked and answered by saying questions about her husband are basically off limits. "I am running for the presidency of the United States. My husband is not running for the presidency."

However, a few minutes later when she was asked whether she thought she was receiving fair treatment in the media, Bachmann seemed to emphasize her husband's role in her campaign.

"When my husband and I made the decision to seek the office of the presidency of the United States we considered what would be involved and we knew that this would be a momentous journey and it would take every bit of stamina and everything that we had, and we knew that it would be tough."