Michele Bachmann (via The Minnesota Independent) thinks the Obama administration is using GM to pursue a partisan political agenda:
One story that came out today, there is a dealership that I know of that applied to their Democrat Senator to appeal for help so that they could stay open.
...So this Democrat Senator who was applied to for help was able to secure a meeting with General Motors and a car dealership, and they were able to get their dealership back.
...Now we've moved into the realm of gangster government. We have gangster government when the Federal Government has set up a new cartel and private businesses now have to go begging with their hand out to their local--hopefully well politically connected--Congressman or their Senator so they can buy a peace offering for that local business.
...We now have an imperial presidency where the President has appointed various czars reporting directly to him. And now he is reaching into the confines of private businesses and overnight rendering them virtually worthless--unless, unless they have a special tug, a political tie to a local Democrat Congressman. Is that what we've come to?
The example to which Bachmann refers is that of Bloomington Pontiac GMC, owned by Paul Walser. GM initially slated Walser's dealership for closure, but after Walser appealed GM's decision, the company granted him a reprieve.
Walser credited Sen. Amy Klobuchar with helping keep his dealership's doors open, and Bachmann seized on that fact to make her case that only businesspeople with ties to Democrats will be able to thrive now that Barack Obama has been elected president.
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There's a problem with Bachmann's conspiracy theory, however. Paul Walser isn't a Democrat. According to FEC records, he's never donated a dime to a Democrat. In fact, he's not only donated heavily to conservative Republicans, he's actually contributed thousands to Bachmann.
According to FEC records, over the past decade Walser has contributed a total of $115,100 to Republicans and conservative PACs. Some highlights:
- $6,700 to Michele Bachmann
- $43,000 to the Minnesota Republican Party
- $5,100 to Norm Coleman
- $7,350 to Bush and McCain combined
- $0 for Democrats
To sum it up: Michele Bachmann is pushing a conspiracy theory that the Obama administration is using the GM situation to reward its political supporters.
Her primary piece of evidence is a dealership in her own state owned and operated by a Republican who hasn't contributed to a Democrat on the federal level in at least 10 years. Moreover, he's contributed more than $100,000 to Republicans and conservatives, including $6,700 to Bachmann herself.
That leaves us with two possibilities: either the Obama administration are the least competent conspirators ever, or Michele Bachmann is a paranoid and delusional freak.
