Michele Bachmann On Debt Ceiling: 'It's Time For Tough Love'

INDIANOLA, Iowa -- Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann says she's not worried about the nation defaulting if the debt ceiling isn't increased.

The Minnesota congresswoman says there are several options to keep the government running if the debt ceiling isn't raised by August. She says members of Congress have offered stop-gap spending measures to keep the government running and she supports those measures.

She answered questions from reporters about the debt ceiling after speaking Monday to about 50 workers at a company that builds cement-handling machinery in Indianola, just south of Des Moines.

Bachmann says raising the debt ceiling amounted to raising the limit on the nation's credit card. She says that eventually would cost taxpayers.

She claimed President Barack Obama has recklessly supported increased spending and that it had to stop.

The Des Moines Register reported on what Bachmann had to say on the fiscal issue in the Hawkeye State over the weekend:

Bachmann told a crowd of more than 100 supporters gathered in her Urbandale office's parking lot that she has never voted to raise the debt ceiling during her time in Congress and won't this time around, either.

"It's time for tough love," she said, to applause.