Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann started her address Thursday to the National Press Club with criticism of President Obama for having no plan to get the country out of the current debt limit crisis.

The Republican presidential candidate, in comments before a question-and-answer session in the nation's capital, harkened to the Reagan administration's efforts in the 1980s to keep down taxes as the way for federal government to solve its current budget difficulties.

She then declared that she will vote against any tax increases or any effort to raise the debt ceiling, adding that she has a "titanium spine" to stand up for her policy positions.

"I'm not fooled by President Obama's math, and people across the heartland aren't either," Bachmann said.

Bachmann also took aim at what she called excessive government spending programs, notably the president's "Obamacare" health care overhaul.

"Government doesn't solve problems, it subsidizes problems," she said.

Bachmann's appearance, which can be viewed live on www.press.org, comes as the White House and Congress grapple over raising the federal government's debt ceiling. The congresswoman has questioned the urgency of the White House's Aug. 2 deadline and pushed a plan she says could avoid default without raising the legal borrowing limit.

Bachmann said the administration continues to use "scare tactics" to get its way on the debt ceiling, suggesting that the White House keeps moving the deadline to meet its political needs.

"There are indications that the August 2nd deadline might not be accurate," she said, adding that it's even a "flawed assumption" that the ceiling needs to be raised at all.

"I have no doubt that we will not lose the full faith and credit of the United States," she said. "I do believe a result will come."

During the Q&A session, she was asked:

Should Speaker John Boehner, her party's leader in the House, be removed from his post if the debt ceiling is raised? "I am running for president of the United States; I am not running for the speaker of the house."

Is campaign finance reform needed given the influence of special-interest money? "I'm happy to take donations, and I'm happy to receive your donations before I leave." She then noted that her campaign's average donation running for Congress was $45 and that Americans' free-speech rights need to be protected.

On the role of religion in her life: "As president of the United States, I will pray every day and ask God to give me guidance."

Presidents she most admires: "A Republican would have to be Abraham Lincoln" and George Washington is her "all-time favorite" because he was the "reluctant president." Among Democrats, she named Harry Truman because of his defense of the state of Israel.

Seated at the Press Club luncheon front table were numerous prominent journalists as well as Bachmann's husband, Marcus, and their daughters Sophia, 17, and Elisa, 21.