The Steamroller of Socialism

Floor Speech

THE STEAMROLLER OF SOCIALISM -- (House of Representatives - May 18, 2009)

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Broun) is recognized for 5 minutes.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, this week, the Energy and Commerce Committee will take up a bill that will put a huge tax on every single family in America--rich, poor and in between. It's going to hurt the people who can afford this tax the least--the poor, the retirees who are on a limited income. It has been estimated that this tax is going to increase the tax burden on every single family by over $3,000. Most families in this country can't afford to pay an extra $3,000 in taxes. Not only that, it is going to raise the cost of every single good and service in America. Food is going to go up. Medicine is going to go up. Health care insurance is going to go up. Everything in this country will go up because it's an attack on the energy producers and on the energy consumers in America.

We have got to stop it. The American people need to understand what this is all about. It's not about cleaning up the environment. It's about creating more revenue for the Federal Government to grow a bigger Federal Government, a bigger socialistic government. We are taxing too much. We are spending too much. We are borrowing too much.

What this will do is it will steal our grandchildren's future. It is immoral. The people who are promoting this should be ashamed of themselves. We've got to stop it, and the American people need to stand up and say ``no'' to this tax-and-trade. I call it tax-and-cap. A lot of people on our side call it cap-and-tax. It's about taxing. It's about more revenue for the Federal Government. It's about just taking money from people who cannot afford to give money to the Federal Government. It's about promoting an agenda that FDR followed during the Great Depression that extended deep into the recession and depression during that time. That is exactly what I believe is going to happen to our economy if we go down this road.

We have a steamroller of socialism being driven by Nancy Pelosi and by Harry Reid, and it's being fueled by the administration and Barack Obama. The American people need to put a stop sign and speed bumps in the path of this steamroller. We see the federalization and the nationalization of the financial services industry. We see car dealerships being closed by this administration. That's unconstitutional. It has never been done in the history of this Nation, and we need to stop it.

We see this administration and the Congress wanting to socialize health care, making a Washington-based health care system that is going to take away patients' choices. It's going to increase the cost of all health care. It's going to destroy the quality of health care in America. We've got to stop it, and it's up to the American people to do so by contacting their Members of Congress and saying ``no.'' We have to develop a grassfire of grass-roots support all over this country to say ``no'' to this steamroller of socialism.

Former U.S. Senator Everett Dirksen at one time said, when he feels the heat, he sees the light. The American people need to put the heat on Members of Congress in the House and the Senate and say ``no'' to a Washington-based health care system. Say ``yes'' to a patient-based health care system that the Republicans and, in fact, in our office are generating. We need to change the health care financing system, but it needs to be patient-based, not Washington-based. It needs to be based on choice by patients where decisions are made within the doctor-patient relationship, not made by some bureaucrat in Washington, DC.

So we have got to put a stop to this. We are stealing our children's future. We are going to destroy what this country was built upon. This country was built upon a free market system, and we are taking over the free market system here in Washington and are making it all socialized, all Washington-based. So it's up to the American people to say ``no.'' I encourage you to contact your Congressman, your Senator and say ``no'' to this cap-and-trade bill. Say ``no'' to socialized medicine and what is being promoted by the Democratic majority. Say ``no'' to this socialization of all of our market system.

We've got a picture of exactly where we're going. All we've got to do is look in Venezuela. We are going down the same track that Venezuela is going down. We see the end results, too. We've got a clear picture of that. All we have to do is look at East Berlin during the time that the wall was there under Communist rule. All we have to do is look at Cuba today, and we see where this country is headed if we don't put a stop to it.

It's up to the American people. So please, folks out there, say ``no'' to this steamroller of socialism and ``yes'' to a free market solution to all of these problems so that we can build a stronger economy. We have to leave dollars in the hands of small businesses to create jobs and to buy inventory. That's what, as Republicans, we are proposing. So, please, American people. Say ``no'' to this steamroller of socialism.

END

Source