Michele Bachmann the tax collector versus Ron Paul fans

Alex Pareene
Salon
July 11, 2011

The Wall Street Journal picks up today on a bit of Michele Bachmann opposition research that various Ron Paul-supporting Internet commenters have been trying to publicize for months: The ascendant queen of the Tea Partyers was once a… tax collector. For the IRS.

Unlike her tale of being a Carter-supporting Democrat until she discovered Gore Vidal’s disrespect for our Founders (or, as is more likely the case, until she became an antiabortion activist), Bachmann’s IRS job isn’t part of her grand conversion narrative. She doesn’t hide it, but she does describe her old gig with fancy government bureaucrat talk: She was a “federal tax litigation attorney,” she says. Her four years at the IRS are also the only job she’s ever held outside of elected office.

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The tax collector business has been brought up on the Ron Paul forums by Paul supporters who are clearly irked that “Tea Party” candidates like Bachmann (and former Fed employee Herman Cain) are stealing grassroots attention from their preferred insurgent candidate. (“Bachmann was a tax prosecutor for the IRS – I can’t think of any professional less desirable to the tea party.”)

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This article was posted: Monday, July 11, 2011 at 8:39 pm

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