Can Bachmann Count?

Written by Andrew Pavelyev on Thursday August 11, 2011

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Will Iowa voters challenge Michele Bachmann to clarify her incoherent fiscal views? On the one hand, she adamantly opposed raising the debt ceiling and is now demanding a balanced budget this year. On the other hand, she voted for the Ryan Budget.

That plan proposed running big budget deficits for decades (even under the rosiest economic assumptions - like 2.8% unemployment rate). Its implementation would require a total increase of the debt ceiling at least several times greater than the one that just passed (against strong opposition from Bachmann). Can these two positions be reconciled? Inquiring minds want to know.