Bachmann Falsely Claims Her Earmarks Were ‘Very Small’ Compared To ‘Average’ Earmark Cost For Minnesota

Last week, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) joined the chorus of members of Congress criticizing the practice of earmarks while requesting their own. Except Bachmann went a bit further, claiming that she has “not taken earmarks in the last three years that I have been in Congress because the system is so corrupt.” In fact, in 2008, Bachmann requested 7 earmarks costing nearly $4 million in taxpayer money.

Bachmann appeared on Fox News this weekend and again railed against earmarks. This time, Bachmann admitted that she had previously taken her own but emphasized that she has taken a “no earmarks pledge.” But when host Brian Wilson challenged the sincerity of her pledge, noting how much Bachmann has requested in earmarks, she tried to downplay the cost, claiming it’s a “very small” amount compared to other Minnesota earmarks:

WILSON: Well, I see a government watchdog group says since you became a member of the House you’ve taken in, oh, $3.7 million in earmarks.

BACHMANN: Well, the average earmark I think for the state of Minnesota for the members of Congress is somewhere around 70,000– $70 million, so mine is very, very small on that level and that’s in the first two years that was in. After I saw the way that the process worked, after being a freshman, I saw how corrupt it was and took an earmark pledge and that’s why I personally have no earmarks in the current budget bill and the stimulus bill that was passed this year.

Watch it:

Yet, the total cost of earmarks Bachmann shifted to Minnesota in 2008 is well above the cost of the “average earmark” designated to her state.

According to Legistorm, in 2008, Minnesota’s congressional delegation designated 158 earmarks worth over $330 million, an average of $2.1 million per earmark. Thus, the “the average earmark” for Minnesota’s members of Congress was not $70 million as Bachmann claimed, but rather $2.1 million — less than the $3.7 Bachmann earmarked.