Bad weather kept Michele Bachmann from attending Obama's speech. Bachmann: Obama 'politically paralyzed'

Rep. Michele Bachmann accused President Barack Obama of being “politically paralyzed” and urged lawmakers not to pass the jobs proposal she charged was nothing more than a campaign tactic.

“This wasn’t at the behest of Congress,” Bachmann told reporters after Obama finished. “This is the president who called 535 members back to hear what I believe was nothing more than a political speech.”


Bachmann, who came back from the presidential campaign trail to rebut the Obama’s joint session address Thursday evening, said the estimated $447 billion jobs plan would only expand government spending, despite the president’s claim that his proposals would be paid for. She also criticized Obama’s proposal to extend the payroll tax cut, saying that doing so would drain more funds from the Social Security trust fund and put payments to seniors at risk.

The Minnesota Republican wasn’t in the chamber for Obama’s address – the weather delayed her flight and she said she listened to the president’s speech in her car. Bachmann had been in Simi Valley, Calif., on Wednesday for the 2012 Republican presidential debate.

Though Bachmann explicitly said she would not take questions about her campaign, she made subtle allusions to her national run. She said she has been listening to Americans “all across the country” and particularly, in her district, and mentioned a conversation she had with a businessman in Iowa – the critical first caucus state, where she’s hoping to keep up momentum after last month’s Ames straw poll win.

And though her leaders in the House – Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) – have signaled a willingness to cooperate with Obama on aspects of his jobs plan that they agree with, Bachmann said she saw no new ideas in Obama’s remarks that she could support.

“This is a speech that we got, and the Congressional Budget Office has said it is impossible for them to score a speech,” she said. “So we don’t know the details, but I’m clearly disappointed by what I heard tonight.”

Bachmann’s remarks were not meant to be an official congressional GOP response to Obama’s speech.