More republican infighting as republicans give Michele Bachmann a slap on the wrist

July 4, 7:35 AMPolitical Buzz ExaminerRyan Witt

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Census workers recording information. AP Photo Toby Talbot

As if republicans did not have enough to worry about given the recent scandals now one of their own members is sabotaging her own party's ability to be counted in the 2010 census.

It seems that Representative Michele Bachmann from the State of Minnesota recently advocated not filling out census forms.  Rep. Bachmann was worried that information in the census forms could be abused so she told an interviewer she would only be revealing the amount of people in her household and no other information.

Luckily for the GOP other members of her party who sit on the House Census Oversight Committee had a more reasonable viewpoint.  As I explained in an earlier article the census helps determine how many electoral votes and representatives each state receives.  The more people you have the more votes you receive.  The more enlightened members of her party realized that if republicans around the country actually listened to Rep. Bachmann and followed her example it would cause thousands if not millions of republicans all around the country to potentially not be counted in the 2010 census.  As a result republicans could potentially lose electoral votes and representatives in red states while democrats gained seats in blue states.

Seeking to avoid this nightmare scenario, Representatives Patrick McHenry, Lynn Westmoreland, and John Mica all issued a statement urging all elected representative to encourage full participation in the census.  This was essentially a tactful way of telling Rep. Bachmann to stop spreading misinformation.

I commend the Representatives for having the courage to confront a fellow member who was misguiding the public.  Recently some republican leaders and spokespersons have been spreading paranoia regarding the census and Obama policies.  While these theories serve to increase fear and possibly turn some voters toward the republican party in this case Rep. Bachmann's paranoid beliefs were going to actually hurt her own party.