W. Akin

Mr. AKIN

Mr. AKIN. I sure appreciate the gentleman from Ohio joining us. I had a telephone town hall with my constituents last night, and I just asked them whether they thought it was a good idea for the government to be taking this over. And it was about 90 percent even said they just don't trust the government to do that. It's that freedom point. It's that idea of do we want a bureaucrat telling us what to do, what doctor can treat us and all? And we are mandated to buy this? Of course the minor point of that is that's unconstitutional. The government can't force you to buy something. And so that's unconstitutional on the face of it. Just absolutely amazing. I just want to get back to my good friend, the doctor from Louisiana. Would you like to jump in? I did throw this chart up here about cancer rates in different countries. And so if you want to talk about that.

Mr. AKIN. Boy, I really appreciate your putting that in perspective. Because we sort of rush through each day, each day is so busy, and we sometimes fail to just take a look and say, oh, my goodness, what is going on here? You know, first of all, a President of the United States firing the president of General Motors? And then surrounding himself with these people not approved by the Senate that he calls czars. That's weird. I don't know where that idea comes from. And then taking over AIG, a great big insurance company. And then you go through all of these other things, the bailout for Wall Street and this supposedly stimulus bill, which cost $700 billion and is not creating jobs, 10 percent unemployment. We have just heard people critical of President Bush for spending too much money. You take his very worst year, which was '08 with the Pelosi Congress here, and it was $470 billion I think he overspent if I remember. You are the expert on numbers. And yet here we go in 2009, $1.4 trillion. That is a record since World War II. We keep setting these bad records and then here comes this piece of legislation. My constituents are going crazy. They are telling me, Todd, what can we do? What can we do? What do you want me to do? We had a great big meeting and thousands of them showed up to protest. The media covered it. But what can you do? I mean, they are shutting the phone boards down. Sometimes I don't know what to say, gentlemen. We are joined here by my good friend, Congresswoman Foxx. I think of her as somebody who is just one of those Americans who has common sense, and she's tough. She's tougher than nails because she believes in commonsense American values, and she doesn't put up with a whole lot of baloney. I am just delighted to have you on the floor joining us tonight.

Mr. AKIN. I mean 5 million jobs. Excuse me. That would really be something. And a government, a major government takeover, and yet what do we have for the quality of results to expect in that we've seen it done in other countries and in the State of Tennessee and Massachusetts? I think Massachusetts health care costs are up 20 or 30 percent over the average of other States. That's not a very good model. Tennessee, the Governor of that State, a Democrat Governor of Tennessee, said this thing is the mother of all unfunded mandates. The States are struggling with their budgets. And here you've got a guy who's a Democrat who's experienced with this thing and saying why are you going to impose this nationally, when it doesn't work on a State basis.

Mr. AKIN. There is something that smells, doesn't it? This thing has been sitting around for about a half a year, and the more people find out about it, the more they hate it. A week or two ago, I just started making a list of all the people who would hate this bill, and there are just circles of Americans, one on top of the other. If you are an older person you don't want all that half a trillion dollars taken out of Medicare. If you are pro-life you think, well, I don't like abortion. Well, if you don't like abortion, how do you like the fact that your taxpayer dollar that you are forced to pay is paying for abortion? That to me is different than just--I mean one thing people talk about is choice. I don't call it choice, I call it killing children. But even if you accept the idea of choice, some people think abortion is okay, some people think it is not. But to take the people who think it is not and force them to pay to do abortions where they think it is killing a child even if other people don't, no wonder people don't like this thing. Or illegal immigrants getting medical care on the back of the taxpayer. I could see there are so many people that wouldn't like it.

Mr. AKIN. I do yield.

Mr. AKIN

Mr. AKIN. Madam Speaker, as I walk across back and forth from the Cannon Building to come to this Chamber, there is a wall in the steam tunnel of all of these different pictures that are painted by our high school students, and one continues to arrest my progress. A beautiful little redheaded girl about 17 years old who looks like my daughter, and has beautiful lighting on her face. And as you look into her face, she has a profound sadness there. And the thought has crossed my mind that that's how my daughters will look if this bill passes with government rationing of health care, with the budget busted, with the destruction of our economy, and unemployment out of control. We need to fix health care, but we don't need to destroy American health care or the American economy. That would be sad indeed.

Mr. AKIN

Mr. AKIN. That is interesting. What I think I am hearing you say is, as much as you want to knock the insurance companies, the fact that people have insurance and the insurance pays claims, in a way they are the ones that are helping to balance out the cost of health care, because Medicare and Medicaid are underpaying the actual cost of what it takes. That gets to a point, and I would like to ask you, I am going to go to my good friend from Texas too, Congressman Gohmert, but sometimes we get into the weeds a little bit too much. So let's say you get way up on an airplane and take a look at the health care question. What someone told me is, he said, Look, look at health care in America as two parts. The front end is the medical service we provide to the people who are sick in America. They said that is the best health care anywhere in the world. If you are a millionaire sheikh from Bahrain, you want to come over here to get some of that health care. So we have the best health care service, in terms of providers. What the problem is is how we pay for it that has gotten messed up, and I think that is a little bit to your question. My good friend from Texas, Congressman Gohmert.

Mr. AKIN. You know, when we're running at whatever it is--and these numbers, I don't really believe them, because these numbers are worse-- but 10 percent unemployment, and you dump 5 million more jobs lost on a bill that is already going to cost trillions of dollars that we don't have, this thing, it just seems like somebody has to have some sort of blind faith to have their foot down on the pedal of the battleship and just try to drive the battleship through the dock. In my district, this is a working day today. We rented a facility at the St. Charles Convention Center. It had seating for 800 people. Now where are you going to find 800 people that care about politics in the middle of a Wednesday? Wednesday morning at 10 o'clock in St. Louis. When the beginning of the town hall started, we had over a thousand. By the time it had gotten going a little bit, we had 2,200 people. You couldn't even get any more people in the room. And their sentiment was along the lines of what we sense here. They said, We don't like this bill. We really don't like this bill. They were begging, What can we do to stop this thing? So my sense is that we're not the only people that are thinking like this in this country. My good friend from Texas, Congressman Gohmert.

Mr. AKIN. You know, I just today was talking to my constituents back in the State of Missouri and we were having this forum. I spoke in pretty strong terms. I told my constituents that this bill, first of all, would destroy the quality of health care in America. The second thing it was going to do was it was going to destroy the Federal budget. And that if I were to put this bill on a scale of all the legislation I've seen since I've been in Congress--and I'm getting a little older; this is my tenth year--that this bill is more than twice as bad as the next worst bill that I've ever seen. So this bill is altogether in another category. I spoke before a group this last weekend, and I looked out and there were a lot of other legislators I'd served with in the State of Missouri. I said, We've all served in the majority, we've served in the minority. But I said, The last year and a half, we've served in the wilderness. I said, The difference of the wilderness is that I walk up as though I were walking up to the edge of the Grand Canyon and contemplated what happens if you go over that abyss. It appears to me tonight, gentlemen, and tell me if I'm not overstating this, that we are standing on an abyss. And that if we step off the edge by passing this bill, America will not be the same country she's ever been in the past, and we will not be able to recover from that.

Mr. AKIN. Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to join you here once again as we get a chance to take a look at Special Orders, and also I am joined by some of my distinguished colleagues. We are going to be looking once again at a subject that has really absorbed the attention of Americans now for almost 9 months, the question of health care. It is still before us. Today was a little bit of a unique day for me because the President came to my district in the St. Louis area, and he wanted to deliver speeches and tell everybody that they should vote for the health care bill. He and I have a difference of opinion on the bill. I think his opinion is that if people just know more about this bill, they will like it. My opinion is the more we have looked at it, the more that people have taken a look at it publicly, the uglier they think it gets and the more they hate it. Fortunately, the poll data seems to be on my side, and the more you look at the bill, the more it seems it has problems with it. We have, today, joining us some distinguished colleagues from all over the country. We have two doctors and an attorney, and just, I think, a businessman and an engineer. It almost sounds like the start of some sort of a joke. But this isn't a joke, unfortunately. This is a very serious subject, indeed. So I am going to recognize Dr. Broun from Georgia, a gentleman who has spent a lifetime practicing medicine and then got elected to Congress, and now he is trying to straighten things out. I am going to have him, followed by Dr. Fleming as well. So, Dr. Broun, thank you for joining us tonight. Let's talks a little bit about this health care bill.

Mr. AKIN. I do yield.

Mr. AKIN. You know, that's the ironic thing about this quote and the reason why we put it on this chart. The President has been saying a lot of things. I think the most truthful thing he said was that, I'm going to bring you change. I think he's been fair in doing that. Not much else that I've heard that doesn't seem to have some contradiction. But this quote here, Reconciliation is therefore the wrong place for policy changes, such as the government taking over one-sixth of the economy. In short, this process seems to have lost its proper meaning. A vehicle designed for deficit reduction. That's what it was supposed to be for--deficit reduction, fiscal responsibility. It's been hijacked. I'm glad you asked that question because the date here says December, 2005. So I don't think he really wants us to remember what he said in 2005, because if you were to take this today, this would mean that they aren't going to pass this bill.

Mr. AKIN. I really appreciate your bringing that up. I am just thinking, picture yourself instead of being a doctor as being a salesman, and you are given an assignment that you are supposed to go out and sell something. Say you are the President and your job is to go out and make this case. We have three huge entitlements that are destroying the solvency of our country. One of them is Medicare, one of them is Medicaid, both methodical things, and the government is running these things and they are destroying the economy because they are out of control, they are spending so much money. So your assignment is to go out and sell people that we ought to have the government take over the rest of the medical part. That is a little counterintuitive. You could be a good salesman, and it is hard to make that case. We have it messed up in this and this area, so give us the whole thing. It takes a little bit of courage to even try to do that. Dr. Fleming, please.

Mr. AKIN. All special deals, yeah.

Mr. AKIN. That's an amazing quote, isn't it? We have to pass the 3,000-page bill just to find out what's in it.

Mr. AKIN. So it kind of depends whether its your bill or my bill, I guess.

Mr. AKIN. Well, there does seem to be some parallelism here, but it seems like it's close to insane almost. We've got just a minute or so left, and Michele, I wanted to give you the last minute or two here. Thanks, everybody.

Mr. AKIN. Let's elect her to Congress. That's a good idea. I think we're about out of time here. I just want to thank the A team for coming out tonight, just a great discussion.

Mr. AKIN. I'm going to yield to my good friend, Congressman Broun, but I can't help but think that we need somebody who's a songwriter. Do you remember there was a guy in Boston that won a political race by writing that song, ``Charlie the MTA?'' It was a sad song about poor old Charlie because he's bound to ride forever because he doesn't have the last nickel for the fare that some politician was pushing, an increase in the rate of the train. But we could have poor Charlie trying to get through this mess, lost forever in this system trying to get his cold medicine, or whatever it is; he's going to get lost forever in that mess. Congressman Broun from down in Georgia.

Mr. AKIN. I think a lot of Americans have come to the same conclusion, government is the problem, and they want a whole lot less of it down here threatening them from D.C. My good friend from Texas, Congressman Gohmert.

Mr. AKIN. So what you are talking about isn't exactly a surprise to us. You've been there, and what you are saying is health care is just what you expect. When the government does it, it is inefficient and it is a tremendous waste. And so to try and say, Now we have got Medicare and Medicaid that have gone bankrupt, and so give us the rest of health care to take over, there is a problem with that line of reasoning somehow.

Mr. AKIN. I appreciate your perspective on that. I bet you that has got to, even after all these months, has got to really bother those of you who are doctors. I mean you invested I don't know how many years in med school. I flunked fetal pig. I would never have made it. Part of the reason was because you wanted to treat patients. And to have some insurance person sticking their nose in that relationship has got to really rub you the wrong way. But what happens if--at least if it's the insurance company, you can get rid of the insurance company. But what happens if it's the Federal Government? That would drive me crazy. Congressman Broun, please.

Mr. AKIN. That sounds like it would be very interesting, because we just had 2,200 people come to our town hall meeting today. We should have had our Declaration of Health Care Independence there because you would have had another 2,200 people. Please share their comments.

Mr. AKIN. Now I've got a question: Do you think that the guy that came up with the idea that if we add people that are uninsured to the health care situation it's going to save money maybe was the same guy that said the economy will get better if you spend a whole lot more money? I thought maybe they were twins or something like that. Dr. Fleming, just got a minute.

Mr. AKIN. I would like to just run over to our good friend from Pennsylvania, Congressman Thompson, and I just wanted to get your perspective on what you are seeing. It has been almost 9 months, and people have been looking more and more into the details of the bill. The more they see it, the more they don't like it. Yet the majority seems to be determined, they have the pedal to the metal, they have the battleship at ramming speed, and they are going to just try and drive this thing through. What is your impression of where we are?