Georgia Republican hints Democrats Could Declare MARTIAL LAW

Segami

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Thu Aug-13-09 02:39 PM
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Georgia Republican hints Democrats Could Declare MARTIAL LAW

Edited on Thu Aug-13-09 02:40 PM by Segami

Source: The Raw Story

Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) has said a few outrageous things in his political career, but this one may take the cake.

Speaking to constituents at North Georgia Technical College, he lambasted proposed health care reforms as “a stinking, rotten fish” and claimed that the elderly would no longer receive medical care were it to pass.

Then he went for the kill.

“He <...> spoke of a ’socialistic elite’ - Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid - who might use a pandemic disease or natural disaster as an excuse to declare martial law,” reports The Athens Banner-Herald.

He added, “They’re trying to develop an environment where they can take over. We’ve seen that historically.”

For his part, Rep. Broun has not shied away from using fear tactics in support of the Republican party line.

In November, the Georgia lawmaker told a Rotary Club that President Obama was a “Marxist” and said his suggestion of a “civilian security force” made him eerily like Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

He later seemed to apologize for the remarks.

“It may sound a bit crazy and off base, but the thing is, he’s the one who proposed this national security force,” Broun told an Associated Press reporter. “I’m just trying to bring attention to the fact that we may—may not, I hope not—but we may have a problem with that type of philosophy of radical socialism or Marxism.”

The AP noted at the time, “The Obama transition team declined to comment on Broun’s remarks. But spokesman Tommy Vietor said Obama was referring <...> to a proposal for a civilian reserve corps that could handle postwar reconstruction efforts such as rebuilding infrastructure—an idea endorsed by the Bush administration.” Obama’s logic being, building cities and neighborhoods generates more security than dropping bombs.

At the college yesterday, Broun played off fears of an alleged government-run “death panel” that would determine who is worthy of medical care, saying, “Eventually, mama will be lying in bed until she gets pneumonia and dies.”

President Obama has repeatedly dismissed similar assertions as patently false.

Broun neglected to add that private insurers already have panels that “ration” policies and decide which of their paying customers will be denied medical care.

The Republican lawmaker went on to cite claims made by the Lewin Group—which is owned by UnitedHealth Group, one of America’s largest insurers—alleging that over 115 million Americans would be forced into health care exchanges because small businesses would not be able to afford their policies any longer.

However, most small businesses have moved away from providing health insurance to their employees for years, as the cost of such insurance has skyrocketed.

In 2008 alone, employer premiums increased by five percent—twice the rate of inflation, according to the National Coalition on Health Care. At current rates of inflation, health care spending is expected to absorb at least 20 percent of America’s annual gross domestic product by 2017.

“Where do people get these ideas? Even more importantly, why do they use them?” asked blogger Glenn Church at Foolocracy. “Are Broun and his allies’ ideology so barren and weak that they can only harbor support by suggesting that the President wants to overthrow the American political system?”

The United States has roughly 46 million uninsured citizens whose only access to health care is an emergency room.

Read more: http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/08/13/georgia-congressman-dems-planning-to-declare-martial-law/