Former U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Fla., ripped into President Barack Obama and his signature health-care law on Tuesday, insisting the White House and its Democratic allies were supporting a "radical transformation of America."Despite losing to Democrat Patrick Murphy in 2012, West, a favorite of the tea party movement, has left the door open to a political comeback in 2016.
Obama did an interview with legendary basketball player Charles Barkley, now a basketball commentator with TNT, which aired Sunday. In the interview, Obama said he had no problem with people calling the health care law Obamacare.
"I like it, Obama told Barkley. I don't mind. And I tell you, five years from now, when everybody's saying, 'Man, I'm sure glad we got health care,' there are going to be a whole bunch of people who don't call it Obamacare anymore because they don't want me to get the credit.
But you don't know what life will throw at you, Obama continued. And sometimes people don't recognize, particularly young people, how important it is to have coverage, until you get sick and you realize you may lose everything you have, or your parents may lose everything they have trying to make you well. So we're encouraging people to sign up. They've got until March 31 to sign up for this year."
West went on the attack on Tuesday, ripping Obama and calling to add more conservatives to Congress come November.
Could Barack Obama be any more out of touch? West demanded, pointing to Americans who lost their health coverage because of the law and increased health care costs.
Bashing the Left's dangerous agenda, West called for the election of hard-charging conservatives who will go head-to-head with Obama, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi to prevent them from implementing the final stages of their radical transformation of America.
Planning to use his Allen West Guardian Fund PAC, West said on Tuesday that he was going to back 14 men and women, either veterans or minorities, who will go to the ends of the earth to protect the Constitution and defend our conservative values in November.
So far, in the 2014 election cycle, West is backing U.S. Rep. Tom Cottons, R-Ark., bid to defeat U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., in what is expected to be one of the most competitive U.S. Senate races come November. West is also backing Republican congressional hopefuls Dan Bongino in Maryland and Mia Love in Utah.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com.
