Another Day, Another Bachmann Quote

So basically, at this point, we know that Bachmann is absolutely the dumbest person to run for President ever, right?

If it was in question, this may finally convince you: Bachmann failed Economics 101 during her presidential kick-off tour in an attempt to appeal to gold fans in Rock Hill, SC this past weekend by asserting that if we had stuck to the gold standard, the dollar would have been the same value today as in 1911.

What?

"The shorthand way of describing to you what quantitative easing is is a license to print money without any value behind it…In the last two years of the Obama administration, if you pull a dollar out of your pocket, you have lost 14 percent of the value of that dollar. That means the federal government has stolen that money from you… They’ve been printing essentially valueless money and flooding it into the money supply. I don’t stand for that. A dollar in 2011 should be the same as a dollar in 1911. A dollar should be worth a dollar."

Marie Diamond effortlessly shreds this assertion on ThinkProgress:

"A dollar in 1911 had the same buying power as slightly more than $23 today. Bachmann doesn’t seem to understand that the dollar’s value naturally changes over time and accompanies economic growth — and that’s a good thing. Furthermore, the U.S. experienced inflation even when it was on the gold standard (which ended in 1971). Additionally, gold’s value isn’t fixed and also fluctuates over time — for instance, price of gold is currently at a record high.

"So being on the gold standard and keeping a constant dollar value are inconsistent proposals. To achieve 0 percent inflation — which is itself an absurd idea, even according to Republican economists — a country would need an independent central bank."

At this point, Bachmann has shown herself to be an idiot on just about every score, from marrying someone who possibly espouses a counseling ethic in direct conflict with the American Psychiatric Association to having zero understanding of American history whatsoever.

If this is the future of the Republican Party, then progressives can pretty much hang up their hats.  It's over.  She'll win it for us just by fucking up royally.