Bachmann Decries 'Bailout Socialism'

At Los Angeles Times, "Michele Bachmann says Bush, GOP embraced 'bailout socialism'."

Reporting from Urbandale, Iowa— Michele Bachmann goes after not only Democrats but also fellow Republicans in her new book, accusing former President George W. Bush and her GOP colleagues in Congress of failing to stay true to conservative, free-market principles when they supported the $700-billion Wall Street bailout.

"The Bush administration … was embracing a kind of 'bailout socialism,' " wrote the Minnesota congresswoman, who is running for the GOP presidential nomination. "It was painful to find out John McCain too favored the TARP bailout. … Here was no ‘maverick’ moment. The same disappointing stance was taken by the Republican leadership in the House."

"I knew there was no way I could vote for it, because I couldn’t find authority for it in the Constitution,” Bachmann continued. “As a constitutional conservative, I put principle over party."