[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10864]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    OBAMAISM HAS MADE AMERICA WORSE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, we are worse off now than we were in 
2008. The country is suffering through an economic recession with more 
long-term unemployment than during the Great Depression.
  The economy was in bad shape, but this administration has made it 
worse. The unconstitutional government takeover of health care created 
a cloud of uncertainty for small business owners, stalling job growth. 
Our health care system was in trouble before, but this administration 
has made it worse.
  Our country is spiraling toward a domestic energy crisis thanks to 
the administration's insistence on punishing U.S. oil companies. The 
price of energy was high before, but this administration makes it 
worse. Americans are becoming used to living with the word ``crisis.'' 
Under Obamaism, crisis has become the new status quo.
  The President admits we're on a bumpy road. But, Mr. President, this 
road is full of potholes. The national debt is expected to equal 101 
percent of the economy in 10 years. Unemployment is around 9.2 percent. 
Home sales have declined. The number of food stamp recipients has 
skyrocketed.
  Over the past 3 years, we have witnessed an administration set on 
entitling people and paying them not to work as opposed to helping 
businesses hire people to work. We are worse off now than we were 
before the President stepped foot on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
  We are stuck in this hole because White House policies have been 
toxic to this country's job creators. Businesses do not operate like 
the government does. They don't function under short-term budgets. They 
don't plan for the next 6 days or 6 months, like our government does. 
Business owners want a plan. They want to know what will happen next.
  Under this cloud of uncertainty, businesses face ObamaCare's employer 
mandate and an onslaught of costly government relations. This leaves 
them with few choices: hold tight and wait it out, comply with 
government oppression and suffer, or shut down and move overseas.
  Coming up on this bumpy road is a domestic energy shortage. The White 
House seeks to punish the energy of today and tomorrow in favor of 
potential energy after our lifetimes. An energy agenda that is 
synonymous with stall, obstruct, discourage, and penalize will only 
devastate the economy further and force more businesses and jobs to go 
away.
  We've seen the administration slow-walk the approval process for 
offshore drilling permits despite lifting the moratorium. The delays 
have been costly, so costly that rigs have left the Gulf of Mexico 
never to return, and those jobs will not return either.
  The coming domestic energy shortage will be partly due to the White 
House's desire to help foreign nations with their domestic energy 
instead of maximizing our own God-given natural resources. When the 
President told Brazil that America would help expand its offshore 
drilling operations and be one of its best customers, he sent a clear 
message: He doesn't support U.S. oil, U.S. companies, or U.S. workers. 
Each day that passes without a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline, a 
pipeline that will transport oil shale from our stable neighbor to the 
north right down to my congressional district in Texas, is another day 
that the White House pivots on U.S. energy jobs. Meanwhile, China is 
eager and ready to be Canada's customer if we snub Canada on the 
pipeline.
  The White House has a none-from-below mentality. We need an all-of-
the-above strategy that encourages use of our natural resources and 
puts Americans back to work. The administration has mastered the art of 
turning a crisis into an opportunity to shove unpopular policies 
through.
  Over a year after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, the administration 
has come as close as it can to shutting down operations in the Gulf. 
The impact, 12,000 jobs have been lost.
  Are we better off today than we were in 2008? No. Our economy is 
still in a crisis of uncertainty.
  The answers under Obamaism are to increase government control over 
our lives and raise taxes on people who pay taxes. This plan is an 
attack on freedom. More government spending and control is the problem, 
not the solution. As Senator Rubio has said, instead of raising taxes, 
we should have more taxpayers. More new taxpayers under the concept of 
developing more businesses, more jobs also yield more taxpayers. This 
will create revenue.
  The White House has operated under crisis management. The doctrine of 
Obamaism with its expansion of the government has made America worse. 
It is time for new hope, new change, and a new American day.
  And that's just the way it is.

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