Bachmann answers questions by not answering questions

Here's how she ducks ABC's George Stephanopoulos (via Mediaite):

Stephanopoulos: You said back in 2005 that taking away the minimum wage could potentially virtually wipe out unemployment. Where is the evidence for that?

Bachmann: You know I think what we need to do is, again George, focus on job creation. I'm a former federal tax litigation attorney. I worked for years in the federal tax court system and watched how devastating high taxes are on business and individuals and farmers. And I'm also a job creator. My husband and I started from scratch a successful small business. That's really the focus that I'm hearing today in New Hampshire. People are very upset that the president has us at 9.1 percent unemployment. That is not acceptable. He promised us that we wouldn't see unemployment go above 8 percent. We've lost millions of jobs, people are suffering, they are hurting and I feel their pain and I want to make sure that what we do going forward is actually to address this and turn the economy around and get it on the right track because that's really what people care about - that's what they're talking to me about all across the country.

This is an old Bachmann trick - just look nice and reasonable, smile a lot, and proceed with a packaged answer that says absolutely nothing. All politicians do this, of course, but Bachmann is notable for the way she brazenly ignores any direct question she doesn't want to answer, just pretends it was never asked.

Stephanopoulos: I think that's what everyone wants to get this unemployment down but do you still believe that eliminating the minimum wage could virtually eliminate unemployment?

Bachmann: I think what we need to do is bring economists together, people who have been in this field to let us know what are the job killing regulations that could help us in turn put the economy on the right track. And so I think we need to across the board look at all of the regulations of various departments and do that. Unfortunately under President Obama we've seen a tremendous expansion of even more government regulations, that's led to even fewer jobs being created. So there's several tactics we need to look at, one is the tax code, another is the regulatory burden that adds approximately 1.7 trillion of burden on job creators. If we could lift that then I think we'd see more people get higher wages, better benefits and more jobs because what we want is more job growth in America rather than to see jobs transferring overseas.

Stephanopoulos: Let me try one more time, so you are saying that the minimum wage is one of those regulations you'd take a look at, you'd try to eliminate it?

Bachmann: Well what I'm saying is that I think we need to look at all regulations, whatever-whatever ones are inhibiting job growth that's what we need to -

Stephanopoulos: And the minimum wage is one of them?

Bachmann: [Long pause] All regulations George. I think every department. We have just too much expansion of government and so what we need to do is tamp that down so that the American people can keep more of what they make.

This woman is not very bright, no matter how the media write-ups would suggest otherwise.