During an interview today with Brian Thomas on Cincinnati's 550 KRC-AM, Congressman John Boehner (R-West Chester) highlighted the innovative project House Republican leaders will unveil later this morning to give Americans a voice in the formation of a new policy agenda for the nation. As Boehner said, America Speaking Out is your opportunity to submit your ideas, discuss policy, and engage in building a better America.
Boehner: "Americans today are angry and upset with Congress that they see as arrogant and self-serving. They are fed up with wasteful Washington spending, new taxes, and job-killing policies. But worst of all, the American people don't think that the majority here in Washington is listening to them, or even care's what they think.
So Washington needs a new agenda. And we need a Congress that will listen to the American people. That's why I'll be joining my other House Republican leaders today to unveil America Speaking Out, to give Americans a voice in forming a new policy agenda for our country. America Speaking Out is built around the understanding that the people are in charge of the government -- they're in charge of the Congress. Any real American agenda has got to start with listening to the American people."
Brian Thomas: "I can't disagree with that at all. I'm sitting here looking at a Rasmussen Report talking about how 63 percent of U.S. voters now favor repeal of the health care bill that was just passed -- 63 percent of Americans. Now John, you and I both know that the statistics were equally high about the bill before passage, that's an illustration about Congress not listening to the vast majority of the American people and yet doing it anyway."
Boehner: "It was the one time and the most stark time in my entire political career when I saw a bill that the American people knew about, they had discussed, they had debated and they had decided no, and yet their Congress went on to pass it. This is clearly an issue that I believe we need to repeal the health care bill and replace it with common sense ideas that will lower the cost of health insurance and protect American jobs."
Brian Thomas: "Well easing the regulatory burden that has been placed upon the medical profession generally speaking, I think is a wonderful starting place. This bill is the antithesis of that. There are more regulators, more oversight bodies, more obligations and paper shuffling and reporting and computerization. It's the antithesis of what anybody who understands the cost of medicine would do. So if I could be the first person to throw a suggestion on America Speaking Out, I'm saying, why don't we get rid of half of the regulators we've got in government right now, they're obviously not doing a good job."
Boehner: "Brian you are the perfect example. You are a guy with a lot of ideas. You can go this morning to AmericaSpeakingOut.com, you can enter your ideas about how to cut wasteful spending, how to bring down the cost of health insurance, you can put these ideas up there, you can comment on other people's ideas, you can vote on their ideas. One of the things I've learned over my years in government is that the best ideas come from the American people, they don't come from Washington. Why not provide a forum for people to come and give us their ideas, comment on other ideas, you've got a lot of ideas, so go to AmericaSpeakingOut.Com and submit your ideas."
Boehner: "This is an effort on the part of Republicans to show American people we are listening. I can tell you that Republicans are going to visit this Web site, we are going to see what Americans are commenting on "
Boehner: "It's time to give American's a voice in what happens in their government, and a more direct voice than they've had."