Thread: AL US Rep. Mo Brooks retracts 'socialist' remark (forced)

US Rep. Mo Brooks retracts 'socialist' remark
Published: Saturday, April 16, 2011, 8:30 AM

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks of Huntsville withdrew a statement he made Friday morning on the House floor about other members of Congress being socialists, but he said later he did not regret his remarks and thought Democrats who objected to the label were being "thin-skinned."

Brooks, a Republican in his first term, was at the microphone opposing an alternative 2012 federal budget from the Congressional Progressive Caucus when he made the statement that drew the objection.

"Folks, we are here today forcing this issue because America is at risk. We are at risk of insolvency and bankruptcy because the socialist members of this body choose to spend money that we do not have," Brooks said.

Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., interrupted and asked that Brooks' remarks be "taken down," a rare disciplinary action in which the clerk reports what was said and the person presiding over the House session determines whether the remarks were inappropriate.

Brooks, who was ordered to take a seat, said he was given two choices at that moment -- either ask to have the offending comment stricken from the record, or defend his remarks and wait until later in the day for a formal ruling. He said he chose to withdraw the use of the word "socialist" so he could continue his speech.

Ellison accepted the withdrawal, and Brooks moved on.

House rules on decorum specify that members should not impugn the motives of other members, use offensive language or make comments that are otherwise deemed unparliamentary, according to the GOP majority.

About an hour after his remarks, Brooks returned to the microphone and spoke briefly of his degree in economics from Duke University and the difference between the economic theories of free enterprise and socialism.

"Let's talk about socialism for a moment. It's greater and greater government micromanaging of our lives. It's higher taxes to pay for it," Brooks said. "Let's talk about free enterprise. Free enterprise is belief in the individual, in freedom, in opportunity. It's what has helped make America one of the greatest nations the world has ever seen."

He said the Republican budgets were based on free enterprise.

In an interview afterward, Brooks said, "People could quite clearly infer that socialism is what the other guys are promoting." He added that he didn't think his use of the socialist label violated the rule, he didn't mention any members by name, and he did not regret using it.

"I was making a point only about an economic system," Brooks said.

All the members of the U.S. House are members of either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party. In the Senate, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is an independent and describes himself as a democratic-socialist who identifies with the economic policies of places such as Finland and Sweden.

A general definition of socialism is an economic system with central government management of the production of goods and services for the overall good of society.

In a similar dust-up two years ago, Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Vestavia Hills, claimed there were 17 socialists in Congress. Sanders, in response at the time, accused conservative Republicans of intentionally trying to blur the lines between socialism and communism.

Brooks said anyone who took offense at his use of the word socialist was "thin-skinned" and probably guilty of not knowing the difference between a socialist economic system and a communist political system.
http://blog.al.com/sweethome/2011/04/us ... _soci.html

"Progressive"
When Luis Gutierrez[6]was elected to Congress in 1992, Chicago Democratic Socialists of America regarded it as a "progressive" move;

Progressive forces in Illinois made history November 3 by electing Carol Moseley Braun as the first African-American woman to the U.S. Senate.
"Chicago City Council member Luis Gutierrez was elected the first Latino to the U.S. House of Representatives from the midwest.
http://www.keywiki.org/index.php/Luis_Gutierrez

American Socialists Release Names of 70 Congressional Democrats in Their Ranks

Posted by Jim Hoft on Friday, August 13, 2010, 4:16 PM
The Socialist Party of America announced in their October 2009 newsletter that 70 Congressional democrats currently belong to their caucus.

This admission was recently posted on Scribd.com:

American Socialist Voter–
Q: How many members of the U.S. Congress are also members of the DSA?
A: Seventy

Q: How many of the DSA members sit on the Judiciary Committee?
A: Eleven: John Conyers [Chairman of the Judiciary Committee], Tammy Baldwin, Jerrold Nadler, Luis Gutierrez,
Melvin Watt, Maxine Waters, Hank Johnson, Steve Cohen, Barbara Lee, Robert Wexler, Linda Sanchez [there are 23 Democrats on the Judiciary Committee of which eleven, almost half, are now members of the DSA].

Q: Who are these members of 111th Congress?
A: See the listing below

Co-Chairs
Hon. Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-07)
Hon. Lynn Woolsey (CA-06)

Vice Chairs
Hon. Diane Watson (CA-33)
Hon. Sheila Jackson-Lee (TX-1
Hon. Mazie Hirono (HI-02)
Hon. Dennis Kucinich (OH-10)

Senate Members
Hon. Bernie Sanders (VT)

House Members
Hon. Neil Abercrombie (HI-01)
Hon. Tammy Baldwin (WI-02)
Hon. Xavier Becerra (CA-31)
Hon. Madeleine Bordallo (GU-AL)
Hon. Robert Brady (PA-01)
Hon. Corrine Brown (FL-03)
Hon. Michael Capuano (MA-0
Hon. André Carson (IN-07)
Hon. Donna Christensen (VI-AL)
Hon. Yvette Clarke (NY-11)
Hon. William “Lacyâ€

As my name implies I'm an old guy and no time in my life have I seen our government so filled by progressive/socialist and yes some bordering on communist, we can no longer afford to be PC call them what they are the radicals in the house are on the left and they have moved the bar so far left that another extreme on the right will be necessary to bring it back to middle that is just a sad fact.