Bachmann Signs 'Cut, Cap and Balance' Pledge in Columbia

On Monday, in a tightly controlled appearance for media only, presidential candidate Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.) came to downtown Columbia to formally sign the "Cut, Cap, and Balance Pledge," the political litmus test du jour for hard-line party conservatives and Tea Party followers.

Her signature on the pledge, in a room at the Hilton Columbia Center, came as Congressional Republicans and the Obama Administration haggle over corralling record deficits and raising the nation's debt ceiling ahead of an Aug. 2 deadline to stave off potential default on the government's financial obligations.

"I am here to say I will not be raising the debt ceiling," she said, adding a shout-out to Tea Party kingmaker S.C. Sen Jim Demint, who has made it clear that adherence to the pledge is a prerequisite for his support in this crucial early primary state. 

"The current negotiations on the debt ceiling demonstrate exactly what's wrong with Washington, D.C.," she said. "And the the American people are trying to get the attention of the politicians. We should never continue to spend … money we don't have. And now we are talking about trillions of dollars in debt. And just because that's the way politicians have done things in the past doesn't mean that's the way we should do it in the future. Those days are done. South Carolinians have had enough, as have the rest of us in the country."

Despite warnings from economists and government officials who warn of default and its consequences should the ceiling not be raised, Bachmann failed to offer any evidence to the contrary, but remains unconvinced the threats are real or a fait accompli if debt-limit negotiations should fail.

(Check out these debt ceiling FAQs here).

"We can meet our obligations, we can keep the United States economy, we can keep our promises to the American people, but we have to make tough decisions to turn the economy around," she said. "And that's how we're going to put the American people back to work. I think our economy needs more than a modest adjustment; I think what our economy needs is a major and a prominent adjustment in the occupancy of the White House."

And a more than modest adjustment is exactly what is on the table: As early as Tuesday, the House is expected to vote on the "Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011." It would cut $111 billion in spending in fiscal 2012, cap federal spending at 18% of GDP, require a balanced-budget amendment, as well as require a two-thirds majority in both houses to approve any tax increase.

The measure is expected to pass in the Republican-controlled House, but will likely fail in the Democratic-controlled Senate. As such, both the vote and the pledge are seen by many as merely a political statement, but potentially a powerful one for Tea Partiers and the Republican's hard-core political and electoral base, which is upset at the nation's current $14.3 trillion debt burden and its drain on the economy.

So what exactly did Bachmann sign on to Monday? Here's the pledge:

"I pledge to urge my Senators and Member of the House of Representatives to oppose any debt limit increase unless all three of the following conditions have been met:

Cut - Substantial cuts in spending that will reduce the deficit next year and thereafter.

Cap - Enforceable spending caps that will put federal spending on a path to a balanced budget.

Balance - Congressional passage of a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution -- but only if it includes both a spending limitation and a super-majority for raising taxes, in addition to balancing revenues and expenses."

While conservative and Tea Party groups are urging elected officials and candidates to sign the pledge, those same groups are also asking rank-and-file citizens to sign the pledge as well in order to send a message to Washington. S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley and every Republican member of South Carolina's congressional delegation (including Lexington's Rep. Joe Wilson) have already signed the pledge.

Bachmann has been consistent, unbowed

While Congress has raised the debt ceiling 10 times since 2001 with little fanfare, the latest push by President Obama and the vast majority of congressional Democrats to raise the ceiling has created a political firestorm in Washington -- though votes have always been politically charged, with outcomes dependent on which party held the most power at the time. Those in power have tended to support debt ceiling increases, analyses show.

Bachmann has a record of not voting to raise the ceiling, however, even when Republicans were in power -- she even recently chastised Obama for voting against a debt ceiling raise when George W. Bush was president. However, until Monday she had been reticent to sign the pledge, one of the last Republican contenders to do so. But, she reminded the media Monday, that's only because the pledge was too timid.

"We must also add this line [to the pledge], and that is to defund and repeal 'Obamacare," Bachmann said. "We must remember that Obamacare is the largest spending entitlement program in the history of the United States of America. Which means, at a time we can least afford it, President Obama added to our spending problem by adding trillions of dollars to our debt. Until we repeal Obamacare, we can't afford to have real economic reform. I pledge to you as President of the United States, I will not rest until we repeal Obamacare -- and I have the resolve and the titanium spine to do just that."

After her roughly 15-minute media event Monday, Bachmann took just three questions from the press before rushing out to attend a private fundraising event. However, she will be in Columbia again Tuesday morning to speak before the S.C. Christian Chamber of Commerce, and will attend an afternoon rally in Aiken.