Following on the heels of Mitt Romney’s letter, I received a survey from Michelle Bachmann today. Her letter starts out with “Dear Fellow Conservative”. I’ve never really considered myself a conservative even though, objectively, I obviously am one when it comes to economics. Still, she’s actually taken a risk here, even if it’s just a minor one: it’s not the generic “Dear Friend” of politicians afraid to offend any potential contributor.

What’s interesting about this letter/survey is that there’s nothing in here about any potential run for the presidency. She’s urging me to join “Team Bachmann” to ensure that:

…every member of Congress learn from the mistakes made from the “Republican Revolution” of 1994.

You see, if the historic 1994 elections taught us anything it is this: it is not good enough to be elected as a “Republican” if you are going to govern and vote as a Democrat.

She’s asking me to commit my “time and financial resources”. (In this case, $25.)

Her survey indicates exactly what policies she wants the new Republican congress to enact:

1. Fulfilling Speaker Boehner’s promise to make the next budget fight about “trillions, not billions”
2. Repealing Obamacare
3. Permanently extending Bush-era Tax cuts
4. Defeating “Card Check” and other forced Unionization schemes
5. Eliminating earmarks that are used as enticements to pass budget busting spending bills
6. Eliminate wasteful government programs
7. Voting against bailouts for companies and industries that have failed in the free market
8. Eliminating any and all taxpayer funding of abortion
9. Voting against any proposed tax increases
10. Protecting our 2^nd Amendment right to keep-and-bear arms
11. Passing a Balanced Budget Amendment
12. Passing tort reform laws to end abusive lawsuits that are crippling American businesses
13. Secure our borders and reject any “amnesty” for illegal Aliens legislation

The first promise is the most important, in my opinion—and I’m going to complete the survey to say so. I’d like to see the effort that would go to extending tax cuts into, instead, reforming the entire tax system.

To be honest, I did not have a very high opinion of Bachmann; but I do have a very high opinion of most of the above priorities. The only one I wouldn’t make a priority is ending taxpayer funding of abortion. I understand where its opponents are coming from, but the real issue is getting government out of health care. Just as with government school—where parents have a legitimate concern about what their children are being taught—government health care evokes strong emotions about what kind of health care you’re paying for.

When you’re paying for something, you want oversight on it. If the only oversight you can get is government intervention, because the way you’re paying for it is through tax to the government, then you’re going to ask for government intervention to match the changes you want. Take the government out from between the buyer and the seller, and that intervention is no longer necessary.

Which is a digression. In this long letter, Bachmann is focussing entirely on her congressional position—and in doing so, making me feel better about supporting her if she does win the Republican primary. She isn’t just opposing Democrats, as bad as their recent record has been. She’s also calling out Republicans for passing a budget compromise whose “widely publicized ‘cuts’… have been rightfully exposed as accounting gimmicks and tricks.”

Regrettably, this first budget battle did not go to the depths needed to truly right the path of our country.

The silver lining in this fight, of course, is that Speaker Boehner, in an OpEd published in USA Today, has promised the American people that the next budget battle will be about cutting spending by “trillions, not billions.”

Well, let me make this clear… I will hold both Republican and Democrat—accountable to the American people and ensure that we do indeed cut the fat from the budget.

This means I will work to cut their pet projects and their boondoggle earmark bills that exist solely for the benefit of getting re-elected.

This will NOT make me popular among my peers.

At which point she goes into how she’s going to be accused of being “too conservative, too ideological, and somehow causing harm to our country.” But the real harms are:

• a national debt that has ballooned to over $14 trillion.
• an unemployment rate that has soared to nearly 10%.
• the historic devaluation of the dollar and inflation caused by a lack of fiscal discipline by our elected leaders.
• an un-Constitutional bill like ObamaCare being forced upon the American people despite it being the largest tax-increase in the history of our nation.
• and failing to pass a budget that commits to bring our country back from the fiscal cliff.

I don’t live anywhere near Minnesota, but reading a plea this specific about real policies and for the most part good policies makes me inclined to send her the twenty-five bucks she’s asking for.