Political Quotes

On the recordFebruary 24, 2010
You know, it was interesting to me that there was a country--it was the U.S.--and they had a theory. Their theory was that the government should provide you with a job, with an education. They should provide you with health care. They should provide you with food and with clothing and with a place to live. That was the job of the government to do those things. We watched that country. It was a big country. After a while, it collapsed. It wasn't just the U.S.--It was the USSR. Aside from the fact that they just hated people of the Christian faith, aside from that sort of prejudice, that was their operating philosophy--that the government was going to provide things that were necessary for your survival. You've got to have food to survive, so the government is going to give it to you. You've got to have health care, so the government is going to give it to you. You have to have education, so the government is going to give it to you. That was their operating premise. We sat there, as I was a young man, and we went 'yuk, yuk, yuk' when the whole thing fell apart, because we knew it was a dumb idea. So what are we doing in America here under the Pelosi and Obama leadership? The government is not only providing education and housing, but now they're going to jump into expanding to take over all of health care, and they are going to tell you where to work. I guess my question is: How come we are doing the same thing we knew that wouldn't work before?
Said by
W. Todd Akin
Missouri

Editor's note · Context

The speaker critiques government involvement in providing basic needs, comparing it to the USSR's collapse.

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