| Anoka group revives ‘Thriller’ for Red Bull Flugtag crowd |
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The “Back for the First Time” team hauled their flying coffin in a full sized semi truck to reach Harriet Island for the Red Bull event. Submitted photo
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One of the more creative endeavors to hit Minnesota since the milk
carton boat race began some 39 years ago entertained, launched, flew
and ultimately floated as Red Bull brought its Flugtag event to Harriet
Island July 24.
| Bachmann talks business with local leadership group |
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| Wednesday, 26 March 2008 | ||
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by Mandy Moran Froemming
Sixth District Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R) met with the Anoka County Business Leadership Forum on Tuesday to share a Washington perspective on the country’s current economic state of affairs. The leadership group operates under the umbrella of Bridgelink – an Anoka County based non-profit which works to both motivate and bring together the business and faith communities. Bachmann, a former tax litigation attorney, spoke about her opposition to increasing federal taxes. “I really hate high taxes,” said Bachmann. “Taxes are a necessary thing but it is not a good thing when taxes get so high they harm communities, they harm families and they harm businesses.” She spoke about her disappointment in a recent budget resolution passed by Congress. “It is the largest budget in the history of our country and the largest tax increase in the history of our country,” said Bachmann. “We are paying $683 billion more than what we were paying before.” The average American will see an income loss of $1,009 as a result of increased taxes, she said. “Groceries, health care and other basics a middle income family has no choice but to consume have gone up (in cost),” she said. “When the economy is suffering that is not when you increase taxes.” One audience member asked how government could continue to provide the kinds of services people have come to expect without taking in more tax dollars. “It isn’t a zero sum game,” said Bachmann, explaining tax dollars for services is not a straight trade. While she didn’t pick any specific targets, Bachmann said there are ways to operate more efficiently in Washington. “There is a redundancy of programs out there not delivering anything of value to the people,” she said. Bachmann also addressed a question on the growing demand on Social Security as the population of the United States continues to age. “The government made a contract promise with the American people,” said Bachmann. “Right now there are three workers for every senior citizen but soon that is going to change to two. That’s going to be a tsunami. I want to hold a forum to let people know how close to the edge we really are.” Bachmann said since she has been elected there has been no formal discussion on the topic. “We should figure this out now rather than when the crisis is looking people in the eye,” said the congresswoman. “The scariest thing in the world is for an aging population to think they are not going to be taken care of.” Bachmann admitted little is going to be accomplished in the coming months as politicians prepare for the upcoming election. “It’s all about who is going to run the show right now,” she said. As for a prediction on the presidential race? “It could go either way,” said Bachmann. “This will be a very unusual year. This race will be far more competitive than ever before.” Bachmann also voiced her opposition to an item in the Energy Bill which will ban incandescent light bulbs by the year 2012 in an effort to get more people using a more energy-efficient fluorescent model. “I am carrying legislation to bring you back your light bulbs,” Bachmann told the group. “This forces people to spend more money on light bulbs.” Bachmann shared her views on a number energy and environmental matters. “We are in a country abundantly rich in natural resources,” she said. “Energy should be the least of our problems. If we extract 20 percent (of the oil) we know is off the coast of Virginia we can replace what we import from Saudi Arabia.” Local oil, along with more nuclear power, are part of her solution to the energy crisis and $4 a gallon gasoline. “We have got almost unlimited availability of energy in the United States but we have restricted our ability to use it,” she said. “It’s like we have a pantry stocked to the roof with food and we’re sitting here with empty plates and the door is locked.” Mandy Moran Froemming is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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