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Talk about high hopes, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., says she'd like to see the federal government returned "to its original size and constitutional limitations and to restore the 9th and 10th amendments."
The comment from the wave-making member of Congress comes in Burt Prelutsky's new book, called "Portraits of Success: Candid Conversations with 60 Over-Achievers."
Prelutsky interviewed dozens of actors, athletes, politicians, developers, musicians, entrepreneurs and others who have won Oscars, Emmys, Tonys, Grammys – even a Pulitzer and a Cy Young.
One chapter is about Bachmann.
Portraits of Success: Candid Conversations with 60 Over-Achievers - (Autographed)(Hardcover) ?
In the interview, Prelutsky asks: "If, with a snap of your fingers, you could change anything about America, what would it be?"
"Reduce the federal government to its original size and constitutional limitations and to restore the 9th and 10th amendments," she said.
Prelutsky explains Bachmann is the third woman, but only the first Republican woman, to represent Minnesota in Congress.
"She first garnered national attention when, during the 2008 campaign, she suggested that the media should investigate members of Congress and presidential candidate Barack Obama for anti-American bias," he explains. "She gained my own personal admiration when she introduced the Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act, which would repeal the nationwide phase-out of conventional light bulbs.
"Only brain-dead liberals along with Al Gore and his ilk, who are cleaning up on the global warming hoax, would promote anything as stupid as bulbs containing mercury. The same people who worry themselves sick that a single strip of asbestos might exist somewhere in the world are all for introducing mercury into every home, school, and business in America. As Rep. Bachmann said at the time, 'If the Democrats can hose up a light bulb, don't trust them with the country,'" he said.
Others interviewed include Ambassador John Bolton, Pat Boone, Carl Reiner, Pat Sajack, Ernest Borgnine, George Kennedy, Charles Krauthammer, John Stossel, Gary Sinise, WND founder Joseph Farah, Karl Malden, John Zogby and dozens more.
Prelutsky, a humor columnist and TV screenwriter, he's written for the LA Times, New York Times, Dragnet, MASH, Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, Dr. Quinn and has written or co-authored nine books.
Here is Burt Prelutsky's interview with Michele Bachmann:
Q. What did your parents do for a living?
A. Father was an engineer, and mother was a homemaker, secretary, and
bank teller.
Q. Did you ever consider following in their footsteps?
A. No.
Q. In that case, what did you start out thinking you wanted to do with
your life?
A. I first wanted to be a ballerina. Before college, I was interested in
business. During college, I discovered my real passion, law. Once I
obtained my law degree, my husband encouraged me to pursue a specialty,
so I obtained my post doctorate in federal tax law.
Q. Did your parents encourage your pursuit?
A. They were indifferent.
Q. What is your educational background?
A. I attended undergrad at Winona State University, law school at Regent
University, and I went to William and Mary to earn my post
doctorate.
Q. What is the best advice you ever received, and did you take it?
A. In seventh grade, my mother told me to work hard in school. She
always said, "Education is something that can never be taken away
from you." The advice came at a critical time. Throughout junior high
and high school, I started a lifelong discipline of reading a variety of
books, magazines, and newspapers. I was thirsty for knowledge and
information.
Q. What is the worst advice you ever got, and did you take it?
A. Despite my hesitance and better judgment, I took bad investment
advice.
Q. What book has had the greatest influence on you?
A. The Bible. My life verse is 2 Corinthians 3:17, which says, "Now the Lord
is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."
Q. On the chance that it's not the same book, which one is your all-time
favorite?
A. The Bible is my handbook for life.
Q. Have you any hobbies?
A. I enjoy walking and reading. I particularly enjoy refurbishing and
remodeling homes, artwork, furniture, and landscaping. I am a problem-
solver. If I see a problem, I want to solve it. It is a running joke in
my family that my husband should print business cards that say, "If
you have a problem, just ask Michele." This passion led me to bring
twenty-three foster children into my home and also to open the first
kindergarten through 12th grade charter school in the United States.
Q. What is the best thing about being in Congress?
A. The people I get to meet, whether it be the residents of the 6th District
or the people who are solving problems in Washington. I love
learning from all those individuals with innovative ideas.
Q. What is the worst thing?
A. It's the time I spend away from my family during the week.
Q. Do you dread going to work knowing you will have to spend hours
listening to people like Nancy Pelosi and Charles Rangel?
A. No. It is a clear opportunity to beat their arguments.
Q. Were you always a conservative?
A. In my heart, yes. While I was raised in a Democrat family, I realized
our lifestyle and our values were based on conservative philosophies.
I converted to the Republican Party because it was a better representation
of my lifestyle and current values.
Q. What is your all-time favorite movie or movies, and what makes them
resonate with you?
A. Saving Private Ryan and Braveheart because they both demonstrate the
high cost of freedom. We cannot afford to lose our freedom, because
the cost to retrieve it is too high.
Q. Who or what makes you laugh?
A. Mark Levin, Ann Coulter, my kids, our dog, and my husband.
Q. Is there anyone you envy? If so, who and why?
A. I admire Phyllis Schlafly. She is a bold, modern American woman
who broke through barriers and never received the credit she deserved
for working tirelessly to preserve freedom. And she single-handedly
brought down the Equal Rights Amendment.
Q. How important is money to you?
A. Money is a good and necessary thing. It is the love of money that is
harmful. We work hard, but we are very careful and fiscally conservative.
I hope we have a good balance.
Q. What was the most traumatic event in your life?
A. I've encountered various hardships, but it is because of those events
that I treasure my relationship with God. My faith has healed the
scars inflicted by this imperfect and sometimes hurtful world.
Q. What is your favorite memory?
A. My wedding day and the five days I gave birth to my children.
Q. If you didn't know your actual age, how old would you think you are?
A. Sixteen. I have an extra spring in my step. I embrace curiosity, and I
have energy to move forward and fight battles. My exuberance hasn't
diminished.
Q. What person has had the most profound influence on you?
A. My two grandmothers. Both came from limited financial backgrounds
and overcame great odds. They were both committed to their faith
and family, and their impoverished conditions forced them to work in
factories. One grandmother was a rock-solid Republican, who was
well-read. She was the most vivacious individual. The other had a
strong heart for her family and people, and she loved me well. She
was apolitical, leaning left, but she had a strong sense of love and care
for others. I learned the best of both worlds from them: love and commonsense
pragmatism. My mother also taught me how to be a great
mother. Despite many hardships, she made do and did the best with
the resources she had. She taught me to be a lady and how to care for
my children.
Q. What is your greatest personal or professional regret?
A. Not finishing law school immediately. I took time off to have kids,
which meant when I went back to school I had to leave them in the
care of a babysitter. I wish I had finished law school first so I could
have been with them full-time.
Q. How do you want people to think of you?
A. Despite my sense of humor, I am serious about my work. I take my job
and the needs of my constituents seriously. I love the people of my
district, and I work hard on their behalf to ensure that freedom continues
not only for them but also future generations. I am extremely
worried as to the direction this nation is headed, so I fight every day
for political, personal, and economic freedom. I also want to be
known as a woman of faith.
Q. If, with a snap of your fingers, you could change anything about
America, what would it be?
A. Reduce the federal government to its original size and constitutional
limitations and to restore the 9th and 10th amendments.
Q. If, just as magically, you could change anything about yourself, what
would it be?
A. My job would be much easier if I had a photographic memory.
Q. If you could sit down to dinner with any eight people who ever lived,
and they could all, for this one occasion, speak English, who would be
on your guest list?
A. Jesus; George Washington; Adam, the first man; the apostle Paul;
Johann Sebastian Bach; Ann Coulter; Ronald Reagan; and Mark
Levin. It would be a very interesting combination!
Q. For that gathering, I’d be willing to bartend for free. Finally, is there a
question you wish I had asked you? If so, what is it, and what is your
answer?
A. If there were one experience I could have, what would it be? The
answer: To go back in time and walk through and experience various
historical events.