Michele Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen

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Mr Bean
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Michele Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen

Post by Mr Bean »

:wtf:
What?
:wtf:
No seriously what?
I triple checked the story and checked the date because I knew it HAD to be wrong but yeah... Bachmann is Swiss now.
Politico
Politco wrote:Rep. Michele Bachmann is now officially a Swiss miss.

Bachmann (R-Minn.) recently became a citizen of Switzerland, making her eligible to run for office in the tiny European nation, according to a Swiss TV report Tuesday.

Arthur Honegger, a reporter for public broadcaster Schweizer Fernsehen, told POLITICO the Swiss consulate in Chicago has confirmed that the former Republican presidential candidate became a citizen March 19.

The Swiss consulate in Chicago covers the state of Minnesota, which Bachmann represents.

Marcus Bachmann, the congresswoman’s husband since 1978, reportedly was eligible for Swiss citizenship due to his parents’ nationality — but only registered it with the Swiss government Feb. 15. Once the process was finalized on March 19, Michele automatically became a citizen as well, according to Honegger.

(ALSO ON POLITICO: Marcus Bachmann becomes sideshow)

Bachmann’s three youngest children are also now Swiss citizens, and her two older children are eligible to apply for a fast-track citizenship process, according to an email from the consulate provided and translated by Honegger.

Bachmann’s office confirmed that the congresswoman had received Swiss citizenship, and attributed the decision to her children.

“Congresswoman Bachmann’s husband is of Swiss descent, so she has been eligible for dual-citizenship since they got married in 1978. However, recently some of their children wanted to exercise their eligibility for dual-citizenship so they went through the process as a family,” said Bachmann spokesperson Becky Rogness.

The Minnesota congresswoman was interviewed by Swiss national public television in D.C. on Tuesday while with a group of Swiss parliamentarians.

“My husband is a 100 percent Swiss, and his parents were raised in Switzerland, they were married there, they came to the United States, they bought a farm in Wisconsin and raised their three sons there,” said Bachmann.

Asked if she would run for office in Switzerland — as she is now eligible to do — Bachmann joked that the competition “would be very stiff because they are very good,” referring to the parliamentarians behind her.

Each Swiss citizen belongs specifically to a canton, and Bachmann’s is the canton of Thurgau in Northeast Switzerland.

“It’s tough to find a place not to like in Switzerland,” said Bachmann.

The Minnesota congresswoman ran for president this election cycle, and won the Ames straw poll last year, but a sixth-place showing in the Iowa caucuses led to her dropping out.

Bachmann’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Swiss consulate in Chicago was closed when contacted by POLITICO.

CORRECTION: Marcus Bachmann’s Swiss citizenship was filed on Feb. 15 and granted on March 19. An earlier version of this article said the registration was filed on March 19.

This goes under the what the hell news section.

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Re: Michele Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen

Post by Ritterin Sophia »

Poor, poor Switzerland.
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Re: Michele Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen

Post by eion »

Hmm, I wonder if this would disqualify her from holding a position in the cabinet, or from a high-level national security position now that she, her husband, and her children have a divided loyalty?
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Re: Michele Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen

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Is she sitting on any sort of House Committee that requires a clearance?
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Re: Michele Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen

Post by eion »

Pelranius wrote:Is she sitting on any sort of House Committee that requires a clearance?
She serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which is charged with the oversight of the United States Intelligence Community on behalf of the House of Representatives, so she is privy to lots of top secret information.

Whether or not there are any legal problems with a dual citizen holding a security clearance I'll leave for others far more versed in U.S. security clearance procedures to answer (Did Henry Kissinger maintain his German citizenship after he was naturalized?), I am certain if a Democratic congressman had just become a Swiss citizen that Ms. Bachman would be amongst the first to question that congressman's patriotism.

Oh, and for the cherry on the cake, Switzerland has universal healthcare, including requiring the purchase of basic health insurance by all residents. So Ms. Bachman has just donned the “Crown jewels of Socialism”, as she so hysterically put it.
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Re: Michele Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen

Post by Haruko »

The more time she spends in Switzerland, the better for the States.
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Re: Michele Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen

Post by Gandalf »

I presume that by doing this, she has no intention of running for Prez again in a few years. I can't imagine a dual citizen as the teep candidate.

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Re: Michele Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen

Post by Fenreer »

As she applied for foreign citizenship, her United States citizenship can be revoked. Basically, the next time she has one of her flip-outs where she vows to leave the country because it is ruled by Communist Nazis, the State Department can determine that to be "intent to renounce" and strip her of her citizenship. It wouldn't happen, but it would be funny as Hell.
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Re: Michele Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen

Post by Simon_Jester »

Did she apply for citizenship? The quoted article says she got it automatically as soon as her husband did.

Now, maybe you can argue that her husband is some sort of remote-controlled drone-meatpuppet who, let's be realistic, does exactly what Michelle says. Because otherwise she'll stop being his beard and his reputation as an anti-gay crusader will be ruined. Or something like that. But it wouldn't fly in court.
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Re: Michele Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen

Post by weemadando »

She must be in one of the lucky cantons where they let filthy foreigners become citizens. Oh wait, she's rich and white. She's fine.
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Re: Michele Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen

Post by Zaune »

The part that gets me is, they're going through the citizenship process because Rep. Bachman's children "wish to exercise some of their citizenship rights", which is a statement that's considerably open to interpretation, to put it mildly. Are they fleeing the country now?
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Re: Michele Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen

Post by madd0ct0r »

possibly tax reasons?
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Re: Michele Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen

Post by Mr Bean »

madd0ct0r wrote:possibly tax reasons?
On reflection this is the best possible explanation as the more places you have your money the less taxes you get to pay because of the dance you get to play telling all the countries your paying taxes elsewhere.

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Re: Michele Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen

Post by AMT »

Or maybe they just thought it'd be cool to be Swiss?
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Re: Michele Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen

Post by Aaron MkII »

That.

Or maybe the kids recognized the farce for what it is.
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Re: Michele Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen

Post by Gaidin »

eion wrote:
Pelranius wrote:Is she sitting on any sort of House Committee that requires a clearance?
She serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which is charged with the oversight of the United States Intelligence Community on behalf of the House of Representatives, so she is privy to lots of top secret information.

Whether or not there are any legal problems with a dual citizen holding a security clearance I'll leave for others far more versed in U.S. security clearance procedures to answer (Did Henry Kissinger maintain his German citizenship after he was naturalized?), I am certain if a Democratic congressman had just become a Swiss citizen that Ms. Bachman would be amongst the first to question that congressman's patriotism.
Foreign citizens can have a clearance, but there are handling caveats that define some information such that only american citizens can see. She's still an american citizen so that particular one is a moot point.
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Re: Michele Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen

Post by Alyeska »

Fenreer wrote:As she applied for foreign citizenship, her United States citizenship can be revoked.
No, it can't. US courts and law have even held that foreign citizenship oaths which require renouncing US citizenship are not binding.

It is extremely difficult to renounce US citizenship.
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Re: Michele Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen

Post by Dalton »

Apparently she's not going through with it now.
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Re: Michele Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen

Post by Dalton »

Alyeska wrote:It is extremely difficult to renounce US citizenship.
Speaking of that, the co-founder of Facebook is trying to do just that.
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Re: Michele Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen

Post by fgalkin »

He has already finished it and has renounced his citizenship.

The US is one of two countries in the world (the other is Eritrea) that taxes you on based citizenship, not residence, so that you have to pay the IRS no matter where you are and where you earned the money. This is why they make it as difficult as possible to renounce US citizenship.

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Re: Michele Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen

Post by Eternal_Freedom »

I have an inkling that the fact that the US holds oaths renouncing American citizenship to be non-binding is a bad thing. Could someone more legally minded or with education/training expand on this and/or explain why I'm barking up the wrong tree please?
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Re: Michele Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen

Post by Alyeska »

Eternal_Freedom wrote:I have an inkling that the fact that the US holds oaths renouncing American citizenship to be non-binding is a bad thing.
Because other countries have put renouncement requirements on citizenship and other oathes. US citizenship should not be beholden to the laws of other countries.
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Re: Michele Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen

Post by Eternal_Freedom »

Alyeska wrote:
Eternal_Freedom wrote:I have an inkling that the fact that the US holds oaths renouncing American citizenship to be non-binding is a bad thing.
Because other countries have put renouncement requirements on citizenship and other oathes. US citizenship should not be beholden to the laws of other countries.
Right. So are they saying that US citizenship is somehow more important that citizenship of another nation?
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Re: Michele Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen

Post by Mr Bean »

Eternal_Freedom wrote:
Right. So are they saying that US citizenship is somehow more important that citizenship of another nation?
No we are just saying that only America gets to decided that your not an American anymore.

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Re: Michele Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen

Post by Eternal_Freedom »

Ah, because obviously the individual can't be allowed to decide things (sarcasm...or is it?)

Either way, thanks for the explanation.
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