GOP Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has entered a new term into the American political lexicon: "Frugal socialists." That was the phrase she used Monday to describe "some Republicans" in an otherwise rushed, pro-forma speech before a small gathering at Family Research Council Action, a socially conservative group in Washington, D.C. In an exposition on the core of her convictions (similar to the title of a campaign autobiography, Core of Conviction, being released later this month) the Minnesota Republican spelled out her opposition to federal funding for education, welfare, food stamps, and all manner of social programs. She promised that, as president, she would "work to eradicate socialism all across the United States government." She was mainly criticizing President Barack Obama. But socialist thought, she said, also has infected unspecified elements within the GOP. "Unfortunately for too many Republicans, they also aspire to be frugal socialists," she said. "The reason President Obama and some Republicans can get behind socialized medicine is because they share the same core political philosophy about the purpose of government." The Republican most often mentioned in connection with "socialized" medicine is former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who signed a state health care bill ("Romneycare" if you will) that was the basis for what Republicans call "Obamacare."Asked if she was referring to anybody in particular, Bachmann demurred. "That's part of the puzzle you figure out," she said.

In a speech that put flesh on many of her previously enunciated political principles, Bachmann also said that as president, she would pull out of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, which she said "contains scores of rules that contradict existing American law regarding medical care, education, religion, and virtually every area of parental decision making."

She also spelled out her vision of a "national" work ethic: "Self reliance means if anyone will not work, neither should he eat."