Bachmann: 'I Am the Complete Candidate as a Constitutional Conservative'
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," September 22, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN, R-MINN.: Governor Perry mandated a health care decision on all 12-year-old little girls in the state of Texas, and by that mandate those girls had to have a shot for a sexually transmitted disease. That is not appropriate to be a decision that a governor makes. It's appropriate that parents make that decision in consultation with their doctor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: And welcome back to this special edition of "Hannity." We're in the post-debate "Spin Room" in Orlando, Florida, tonight. Texas Governor Rick Perry, the newest candidate to jump into the 2012 race was a frequent target, tonight, by his fellow presidential hopefuls. And as you just heard, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann called him out on an HPV-related executive order that he issued in the Lone Star State. Joining me now to defend her stance is Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann.
How are you?
BACHMANN: Hi Sean, good to see you again.
HANNITY: All right, this is two debates in a row where this has become a pretty big issue for you and you keep bringing it up with Governor Perry. What did you think of his answer that he thinks he made a mistake. He talked about opting out, opting in. What is your reaction?
BACHMANN: Well, one thing we found out after Governor Perry gave his response, he said he did it because he talked to a woman and then made the mandate after talking to this woman. We found out that he didn't talk to her until after the mandate was put in to affect, so he gave another false statement, this evening. I think that's going to hurt the governor.
HANNITY: I think you're referring to -- somebody who was up here talking about it, so I heard it -- in an ABC news article, you said?
BACHMANN: That's right, and ABC news article came out that says that the governor was inaccurate. But really the bigger point in all of this is that governor gave parental rights way to a drug company. That drug company had given campaign contributions to the governor. That's what we don't want to see. We don't want to have a Republican candidate who's beholden to political donors. That's all we've been hearing from President Obama this last week.
HANNITY: Do you think this was like -- looking at Solyndra, big fund holders, big donors to the president, that get access to the White House, they get 535 million taxpayer dollars, it goes down the drain in the end. Do you really think that the governor did this? Are you basically saying you think it's pay to play or do you think that he really believed in the issue?
BACHMANN: Well, this isn't the only instance where the governor has done this, there are many, many instances. One is that he received over $17 million in campaign contributions and that's from people that he has appointed the boards and commissions in the state of Texas. That's troubling. There's one donor that gave him $180,000, $25,000 was given six days before that donor was appointed to another commission. It's instance after instance.
There's another fund similar to the Solyndra fund where again the governor gave a $35 million grant to a company that many donors were for his campaign. And the company promised they'd create 5,000 jobs. Not only did they not create the jobs, they cut 20 percent of all of their jobs. So, there's instance after instance. This isn't just one isolated situation.
And again, that's why I think really in this election, we don't have to settle. We can have a good, strong whole constitutional conservative. This is an "anybody but Obama" race. This is a race where we're always told, as conservatives, oh, we've got to settle for a moderate. Not this time, because President Obama will be defeated, he will be a one-term candidate. That's why we need to get the best possible candidate we can who's actually going to repeal Obamacare, change the tax codes and actually take on the bureaucracy in Washington. I don't want to manage the bureaucracy, I want to dismantle it. That's what we need.
HANNITY: When you talk about dismantling you're also talking about the Department of Education.
BACHMANN: Yes.
HANNITY: Look, if you were the front-runner you're going to take a lot more shots and there seems to be a lot of attention drawn to Governor Perry's side tonight. You took him on on immigration issue. This really, for the first time, I think became a front and center debate in the campaign. How important is that? And what do you think of his position? And how would yours be different?
BACHMANN: Well again, there's a world of difference because I would build the fence on the border. It must be done. Governor Perry called that "idiocy." I would not give taxpayer subsidized benefits to illegal aliens or their children. Governor Perry did. He's a self-described moderate on the border issue. But we've had this now with both Republican and Democrat presidents where they're not serious about dealing with the border.
The American people are saying very clearly, deal with the border. That is why I say we shouldn't settle this time on our candidate. We've got to get a candidate that's going put these issues into affect.
HANNITY: You're saying whoever wins this nomination will be the next president and you're urging people to go for the more -- are saying you think you're the most conservative candidate in the race?
BACHMANN: I think I am the complete candidate as a constitutional conservative. I'm a strong, bold fiscal conservative, I'm a strong, bold social conservative, a national security conservative and a Tea Partier. That's what we're looking for in this election.
And I think what sets me apart from all of the candidates in the race, it's not only that I think I'm right on issues, but I've been fighting vigorously for five years in Washington, D.C. on all of these issues. And unlike the two governors that were up on stage tonight, who said they'd issue executive orders to get rid -- to deal with Obamacare. I understand, we will never get rid of Obamacare with an executive order or a waiver. The only way you'll get it -- rid of it is pulling out root and branch by repealing. I am committed to that.
HANNITY: I was very interested in Megyn Kelly's first question to you tonight which was how much of every dollar do you get to keep as a citizen? I really liked that question. And you did say you should keep every dollar, but then you clarified it a little bit, because we got to pay for roads and bridges and national defense. What would that number be if you -- state, local, federal dollars in taxes, bottom line, what do you think should be the maximum number?
BACHMANN: Well again, it depends on what type of tax plan you adopt. And as a former federal tax lawyer, I want to lead that debate in the United States. No. 1, we have to cut spending dramatically because I believe in a balanced budget, but whether we engage a consumption tax, like the fair tax, or a flat tax, I want to lead that debate as president, because we rule by the consent of the governed. And people I think need to have chance to weigh in. We all agree the current tax code is wrong. I spent years dealing with it in United States federal tax court. It actually kills jobs, it doesn't create them.
And that is what I want to do is bring my expertise and background as a small business owner and a job creator and as a federal tax lawyer into Washington. I get how you turn the economy around and create jobs. I want to do that. But it's the political will that I bring. That is really what I will do as president of the United States. I have the will to repeal Obamacare. I introduced that bill and I introduced a bill to repeal Dodd-Frank which is causing businesses to not have access to credit the way they did before, which is causing people want to buy a house not until they qualify for their mortgage.
HANNITY: Yes.
BACHMANN: That's why we have to change it.
HANNITY: Congresswoman, good to see you as always. I appreciate you being with us.
BACHMANN: Thank you, good to see you, Sean.
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