Bachmann: “This is Our Mice and Men Moment”

Photo: Gage Skidmore

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Update: The three-week CR passed, with Obamacare intact. Apparently we’re mice.

Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann implored House GOPers to defund the Affordable Care Act at a forum at the Capitol on Wednesday evening, calling the upcoming vote on a three-week continuing resolution “our mice and men moment.” Speaking to a small audience of about two dozen mostly junior staffers, interns, and reporters, Bachmann warned that the continuing resolution, along with an upcoming vote to raise the debt ceiling, represent House GOPers’ last best chance to defund the law, nearly one year after it was signed into law.

“This is our mice or men moment. We need to show whether we are mice or men,” Bachmann said. “It is not for us to wait for us to fight when it’s easy… Now is our moment. What are we made of: Are we mice, or are we men?”

Well?

Bachmann wants her colleagues to vote against any continuing resolution that doesn’t explicitly strip funding from health care reform—although as Alex Altman notes, a continuing resolution can’t defund Obamacare.

“They wanted what they wanted, the people of the United States be damned,” Bachmann said. “This was a fraud that was perpetrated on the people and on the Congress. We should be shouting from the rooftops, ‘Give the money back!'”

Bachmann was joined at the event by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Reps. Tom Price (R-Ga.), Michael Burgess (R-Texas), and Steve King (R-Iowa), and representatives from the Cato Institute and tea party groups. The panelists mostly stuck to the now-familiar talking points—ending frivolous lawsuits, for instance—with a few exceptions.

“It’s a tsunami,” said Jim Martin, chairman of the 60 Plus Association, referring to the backlash against Obamacare. “I know it’s a bad word because of what’s going on, but that tsunami, that political tsunami, is offshore.”

As part of a “March Madness” theme, organizers distributed brackets for “The Real March Madness,” pitting the 64 “worst things about Obamacare” in an NCAA tournament-style format (sample first-round matchup: “Your $ Advertise this law” vs. “‘Doc fix’ = States’ Problem”).

My money’s still on Kansas.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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