New House Speaker Dean Cannon Tears into Obama Policies

In his opening address, new House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, took aim at the economic policies backed by President Barack Obama.

If someone had told those of us who were first elected in 2004 that by 2010 the federal government would be not only advocating but implementing the greatest expansion of government power since the New Deal, I would not have believed it, said Cannon. And yet, that is exactly what we have seen.

Cannon ripped into policies backed by the Obama White House, including new federal health-care laws and stimulus and bailout bills.

Government taking over banks and financial institutions, government taking over auto manufacturers and the production of durable goods, government socializing medicine and government trampling the property rights of citizens and the sovereignty of states, said Cannon. Should it really be the role of government to require people to purchase a health insurance product they don't want, raise taxes to give that same product to others who can't afford it, and commandeer our state government and its resources to carry it out? Or, should we work to limit government and empower the private sector by developing a clearly-defined framework for providers in Florida to compete to meet the needs of our citizens and then hold them accountable for their performance?

Can it really be the proper role of the federal government to arbitrarily come in to a single state and unilaterally tell us that Florida must adhere to arbitrary, unscientific and unachievable EPA standards? continued Cannon. Or, should we raise our voices in protest and defend our citizens' property rights and our state's sovereignty against this assault by the federal government?

Based on his remarks, it is clear that Dean Cannon intends to raise his voice.