Speaking on the U.S. House floor in June 2010, Rep. Akin called for the federal government to “get out of the business” of
A partial transcript:
What is it we have to do? We have to learn, if nothing else, from the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union had the philosophy that the government is going to give you health care, the government is going to give you an education, the government's going to provide for your retirement, it's going to give you housing and food, the government's going to do all that. And we laughed. Because we said you can't -- That socialism, that communism, socialism doesn't work. And yet what are we doing here? The same thing.
We're deciding the government's going to do health care, the government's going to do your education, the government's going to do your housing, through food stoops -- I mean, through housing and food stamps, food. It doesn’t work.
So what I think we understand is the government is just going to have to get out of the business of taking care of everybody, and get back in the business of just simply managing the economy, providing for the national defense. And they're going to have to push all of that decision making down to the state level and let the states do it.
So we have to have a good breath of freedom and fresh air, instead of the big mama welfare state that we're going.
WATCH THE FULL VIDEO on Rep. Akin’s official YouTube channel or HERE at C-SPANVideo.org:
As legal experts note, “Akin should take a moment to actually read the Constitution before he lectures anyone about what’s in it. Although the Constitution does not include the words ‘health care,’ it does enable our elected leaders to raise revenue and to ‘provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States.’ A national program ensuring when older Americans retire they do not impose crippling health costs upon their families easily fits within this grant of power.
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Speaking with tea partiers in Branson In September 2011, Rep. Akin declared the Evironmental Protection Agency, the Department of Education and Department of Energy to be unconstituional as well.
Audience Member: You’ve got the Department of Education; You’ve got the EPA; You’ve got the Department of Energy…These shouldn’t even be committees. They shouldn’t even be departments in our government. And they’re running it. We’ve got to stop them.
Rep. Todd Akin: You’re right. Now, why should they not be?
Audience Member: They have no reason to be because the Federal government is limited according to the Constitution (Akin chimes in: Good!), which they have thrown out the door.
Rep. Todd Akin: You’re right. That’s exactly right.