[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 156 (Monday, October 26, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H11769-H11770]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, sometimes I get so angry when I 
hear some of the things that are coming out of the Congress, I can 
hardly believe it, especially when we are talking about misinformation.
  I would never impugn the integrity of my colleagues, but I have to 
tell you, it really bothers me when people like the Speaker of the 
House and the Majority Leader of the United States Senate give 
inaccurate information out and cite it as fact when in fact it isn't 
true. It's not true at all.
  For instance, the Speaker of the House said, I'm very pleased that 
Democrat leaders will be talking, too, about the immoral profits being 
made by the insurance industry and how those profits have increased in 
the Bush years. She went on to say that she welcomed the attention 
being drawn to insurers and their obscene profits.
  I am not here to defend everything that the insurance industry does. 
Obviously there are a lot of things that we need to do to help solve 
the problems of health care. But misleading the American people by 
giving false information isn't the answer. Last year, the health 
insurance industry made a profit of about 2 percent, way down the list 
as far as corporate America is concerned. Over the past several years, 
the profit margin made by the health insurance industry runs around 5 
to 6 percent, way down to the bottom of where corporate America ranks 
as far as making profits are concerned.
  Yet the Majority Leader of the Senate and the Speaker of the House 
said that they're making obscene profits, and they're doing that to try 
to demonize the industry so they can ram through a public option that 
the American people really don't want. They don't want government 
coming between them and their doctor; and the way to start getting 
people to jump on the bandwagon is to give them misinformation.

                              {time}  2000

  Obviously the cost of health care has gone up. Obviously health care 
premiums have gone up. And yet they say, well, the reason for that is 
because the health industry is making these huge profits, obscene 
profits. Two percent? Two percent? It is not true. It is just not true 
that they are making obscene profits.
  Now, we need to do something to solve the problem of health care. We 
need to lower the cost of health insurance. We need to come up with 
alternatives, such as medical savings accounts like my colleague just 
talked about here. We need to be able to buy insurance across State 
lines. There is a whole host of things we need to do. But misleading 
the public is not the answer.
  That is not the only thing that really bothers me. The administration 
and the leadership in the House and Senate continues to try to do 
everything they can to dissuade people from believing the truth and 
believing what is really not true, to shut off debate, to shut off the 
First Amendment rights of people in this country.
  For instance, right now, they tried to push through a gag order on 
Medicare Advantage companies. Humana was sending out to their 
policyholders information about what was going to happen if the public 
option passed. And what happened? There was a gag order requested by 
the Finance chairman of the Senate, requested by the Finance chairman 
of the Senate, so they couldn't get that information out. Well, the gag 
order was removed, but the fact of the matter is they tried to stop the 
people from getting the facts, and that is just wrong. It is wrong. It 
is not up to the quality that we should expect of our legislators. 
Nevertheless, they tried to do that.
  Now the administration is trying to put the hammer on the Chamber of 
Commerce, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which is the backbone of the 
free enterprise system in this country, in part, at least. The business 
and industry people of this country look to the Chamber of Commerce to 
give guidance to the government wherever necessary so they can work 
together with the government to come up with ways to make sure that the 
free enterprise system continues to work.
  Because the Chamber of Commerce does not agree with the public 
option, does not agree with cap-and-trade and some other things, the 
administration is saying, oh, my gosh, they are bad. They are the 
demons. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Can you believe that? I can't. 
How far is the administration willing to go? How far is the Speaker of 
the House willing to go? How far is the majority leader of the Senate 
willing to go in misleading the American people by giving false 
information out? I think it is just dead wrong.
  Then they are talking about doing something about the Fairness 
Doctrine, to shut down conservative talk radio.
  An attempted boycott of Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn Beck;
  Congressional action to take away the anti-trust exemption from 
insurance companies;
  A Gag Order on Medicare Advantage companies;
  Reports in Politico about how the White House is seeking to limit the 
voice of the United States Chamber of Commerce;
  Efforts by the Federal Election Commission to resurrect the so-called 
fairness doctrine to shut down conservative talk radio; and
  The President himself saying he was going to keep a list of 
bondholders who didn't agree to the government takeover of GM or 
Chrysler.
  My time may have expired, but I will be back, because we need to tell 
the American people the truth, the truth.
  Madam Speaker, I include the following for the Record.

              [From The American Spectator, Feb. 18, 2009]

                          Obama's Enemies List

                            (By Mark Hyman)

       After the Democratic convention, Obama campaign lawyer 
     Robert Bauer warned TV stations against airing a TV ad that 
     was embarrassing to Barack Obama. The commercial focused on 
     the longtime relationship between Obama and Weather 
     Underground terrorist Bill Ayers. Bauer sent letters to the 
     Justice Department imploring the agency to pursue criminal 
     action against those behind the ads. It was not lost on 
     anyone at that time that Bauer was considered a candidate to 
     be the next U.S. Attorney-General.
       A team of Obama campaign operatives, joined by major news 
     outlets, descended on Wasilla, Alaska immediately after 
     Governor Sarah Palin was introduced as Senator John McCain's 
     running mate. This was immediately followed by patently false 
     reports claiming Palin imposed book bans, joined a fringe 
     political party, charged rape victims for emergency room 
     treatment and cut funding for special needs children.
       In late August, the Obama campaign emailed an ``Obama 
     Action Wire'' to thousands of supporters and liberal 
     activists exhorting them to harass the offices of Chicago's 
     WGN radio by flooding the station with angry phone calls and 
     emails. Activists screamed insults to call-in screeners. The 
     radio station's offense was that a long-time, respected radio 
     host had the temerity to interview Ethics and Public Policy 
     Center watchdog Stanley Kurtz. Kurtz had uncovered university 
     records that documented a much closer relationship between 
     Obama and Ayers than the presidential candidate had 
     previously disclosed.
       A few weeks later, state prosecutors and top sheriffs in 
     Missouri who were prominent Obama supporters responded to a 
     chilling Obama campaign request. They styled themselves as a 
     ``truth squad'' and threatened to prosecute anyone including 
     media outlets that printed or broadcasted material they 
     deemed to be inaccurate about the Illinois Senator.
       Obama contributors in the Justice Department's Civil Rights 
     section (headed by $2,000 Obama donor and former ACLU 
     attorney Mark Kappelhof) urged preemptive prosecution of 
     individuals the Obama campaign believed might disrupt the 
     November election. A cited example of anticipated disruption 
     was to send mailings of a non-violent nature addressing 
     voting issues unfavorable to Obama.
       In October, a question from a middle-class voter resulted 
     in an answer from Obama indicating the Democratic nominee was 
     in favor of ``spread[ing] the wealth around.'' This voter 
     became the symbol of middle-class America and Obama's 
     response the touchstone of his neo-Marxist policies. 
     Immediately thereafter, Democratic Ohio state officials 
     scoured government data bases and confidential records in an 
     effort to find embarrassing information on ``Joe the 
     Plumber'' (e.g., he is divorced) that quickly found its way 
     into the press.

[[Page H11770]]

       In the final days of the campaign, three newspapers that 
     had endorsed McCain were booted from the Obama campaign bus. 
     The New York Post, Dallas Morning News, and Washington Times 
     were unceremoniously shown the door only days after their 
     papers' endorsements appeared. Obama campaign officials 
     claimed the move was to make room for more important media 
     outlets: Jet and Ebony entertainment magazines. Both 
     publications were publishing fawning coverage of Obama.
       Those heartened by the hope that a President Obama would be 
     more tolerant of critics and criticism than a candidate Obama 
     had their expectations dashed. In only his third full day as 
     the 44th president Obama personally went on the offensive 
     against a media personality. On January 23rd, Obama warned 
     Congressional Republicans against listening to Rush Limbaugh. 
     The man who offered to sit down with Holocaust denier and 
     Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad without any 
     preconditions whatsoever views an American radio talk show 
     host as a dangerous threat.
       In precedent-setting action, Obama moved his director of 
     political affairs, a highly partisan post, from the Old 
     Executive Office Building into the West Wing. Political 
     operative Patrick Gaspard was given White House access not 
     experienced by his predecessors. Obama official Shauna Daly, 
     a non-lawyer and career opposition researcher described as a 
     ``partisan dirt-digger,'' was assigned to the White House 
     counsel office. The move signals not only a new low in 
     partisan activities, but suggests the office assignment may 
     be intended to hide Daly's political activities under the 
     guise of the counsel's attorney-client privileges.
       What America witnessed before the election and mere hours 
     after Obama was sworn into office is just a sampling of what 
     Americans can likely expect throughout an Obama presidency. 
     One cannot help but reach the conclusion an Obama Enemies 
     List is already being compiled and free speech restrictions 
     are being considered. Fortunately for Obama he has no 
     shortage of Congressional foot soldiers to help in his cause 
     to muzzle critics and silence news outlets that refuse to 
     adhere to Democratic talking points that are faxed directly 
     into the network newscast teleprompters.
       On Election Day, Senator Chuck Schumer likened conservative 
     talk radio to pornography and argued it should be regulated. 
     House Speaker Nancy Pelosi endorsed speech restrictions more 
     than once during the election season. Senators Harry Reid, 
     Dick Durbin and John Kerry have also advocated various limits 
     to political speech. Senator Debbie Stabenow assured a 
     liberal radio talk show host that regulating conservative 
     speech is imminent. House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry 
     Waxman is reportedly working on speech restrictions with 
     acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps.
       Imagine the gross violations against political speech that 
     may very well occur when there are no checks and balances 
     from a sycophantic Congress and there is complicity from the 
     national news gatekeepers. The public may be very surprised 
     at the lengths the Obama Administration may pursue to silence 
     critics. Moreover, the self-anointed Praetorian Guard of the 
     First Amendment will conveniently develop a case of amnesia 
     regarding on which side of the debate they fall when it comes 
     to press freedoms. Do not expect to see the New York Times 
     editorialize against Obama and the Congress when it comes to 
     protecting free speech rights aside from its own and that of 
     like-minded, liberally-biased press outlets.
       The Clinton White House had its own enemies list and 
     engaged in dirty practices that clearly broke the law. 
     Clinton enemies audited by the IRS included Paula Jones, 
     Juanita Broaddrick, Gennifer Flowers, White House Travel 
     Officer Director Billy Dale and the independent watchdog 
     group, Judicial Watch, just to name a few.
       Early in Clinton's first term, staffers improperly 
     squirreled away more than 400 FBI files on prominent 
     Republicans. This give the Clintons access to confidential 
     information on key Republicans they viewed as political 
     threats.
       Just weeks after the Monica Lewinsky broke in early 1998, 
     then-Deputy Attorney General (and current Attorney General) 
     Eric Holder engineered a federal grand jury investigation of 
     The American Spectator. The magazine had long been a very 
     successful critic of both Clintons, having broken several 
     stories embarrassing for the President and First Lady. 
     Fourteen months later, the federal prosecutor dropped the 
     probe without filing any criminal charges. The probe may have 
     achieved its purpose as it nearly bankrupted the magazine.
       Much has been made by the political left of Richard Nixon's 
     infamous enemies list. The reality is while there was a 
     Nixon's enemies list most of the names were those who did not 
     receive presidential Christmas cards or White House reception 
     invitations. This was a hardship that even the most 
     vulnerable in American society could easily withstand.
       The heavy-handed actions against Obama critics and 
     opponents that occurred before he had government institutions 
     firmly under his control should have had public interest 
     watchdog groups up in arms. Because so many of such groups 
     are ideologically aligned with Obama may explain why there 
     was not even a peep. Conservative and balanced news outlets 
     have the disturbing habit of holding accountable liberal 
     public interest organizations that engage in dishonest or 
     deceptive practices that the major news organizations just so 
     happen to overlook.
       How soon and how far the Obama Administration will extend 
     its attacks against its critics and the political opposition 
     may become evident in the days ahead. Spared any serious 
     scrutiny by most news outlets during his very brief career in 
     public office, Barack Obama has displayed an exceptionally 
     thin skin when he has come under a microscope or when he has 
     suffered political and public relations setbacks.
                                  ____



                               THE CLAIMS

       ``I'm very pleased that (Democratic leaders) will be 
     talking, too, about the immoral profits being made by the 
     insurance industry and how those profits have increased in 
     the Bush years.''--House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who 
     also welcomed the attention being drawn to insurers' 
     ``obscene profits.''

                          ____________________