Michele Bachmann Slams Michelle Obama Over Breast-Feeding; Does She Have a Point?

Should the U.S. government promote breast-feeding as a way to counter childhood obesity?

Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., took a swipe Wednesday at Michelle Obama over the first lady's support of tax breaks to mothers for purchasing breast pumps and nursing supplies. Obama has cited studies that correlate longer breast-feeding with lower rates of childhood obesity, but for Bachmann, such government incentives smack of an all-too-literal "nanny state."

"For them, government is the answer to every problem," Bachmann told radio talk-show host Laura Ingraham. "And so government got us in this problem, and so they think government is going to get us out of the problem. Clearly they're wrong."

Surge Desk took a stroll around the blogosphere to find out what people are saying about the Bachmann breast-feeding critique.

Newser suggests that this might be part of a larger smear campaign, connecting Bachmann's comments to an Andrew Breitbart Big Government political cartoon implying the first lady's own obesity problem.

As reported by the Minnesota Independent, Fox News contributor Sandy Rios takes issue with how the tax deduction specifically targets the black community:

"You have to remember that 75 percent of American women already breast feed," said Rios. "We are talking about a problem that is specifically in the black community and so for you to change federal law and IRS regulations and start forcing businesses to make accommodations for nursing women to promote it in the black community is the problem that I have with it and I agree with Michele this is the nanny state on steroids."

Slate's Double X mention that breast pumps can save families money if they can avoid buying on infant formula:

While breast pumps aren't cheap, they can end up saving a working mom money: is still less than paying for a good-quality formula for the first year of a baby's life. That way a new mom can get back into the workforce when she's ready -- you know, the workforce, that thing that powers and grows the U.S. economy, and that thing that you need to be a part so you don't have to rely on the [government] for "handouts." And don't conservatives love tax breaks?

On Twitter, meanwhile, Politics Daily Editor-in-Chief Melinda Henneberger chimed in with a distinction on the so-called "nanny state."


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