Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar's (R-FL) anti-socialism resolution was met with overwhelming support as the majority of Republican and Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives voted 386-86 in favor of the measure.
Florida's entire congressional caucus, including Democratic Reps. Kathy Castor, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Lois Frankel, Jared Moskowitz, Darren Soto, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, and Frederica Wilson, all voted against socialism, with only Rep. Maxwell Frost voting against the measure.
Rep. Frost defended his position by saying that House Republicans were merely using this legislative measure as a scare tactic.
"The GOP has called Social Security, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, & even free public schools "socialism" to scare ppl. Today, House R's wasted our time by debating a sham resolution in an attempt to justify cuts to programs that millions of Americans have paid into & earned," stated Rep. Frost.
The GOP has called Social Security, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, & even free public schools "socialism" to scare ppl. Today, House R's wasted our time by debating a sham resolution in an attempt to justify cuts to programs that millions of Americans have paid into & earned. pic.twitter.com/qLoa5lQOxF
— Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost (@RepMaxwellFrost) February 2, 2023
One can debate on the merits of Social Security and Medicare as being socialist, but a perusal of the resolution's text itself makes no reference to either system.
Instead, the text begins with "whereas socialist ideology necessitates a concentration of power that has time and time again collapsed into Communist regimes, totalitarian rule, and brutal dictatorships," followed by history's numerous examples of how socialism eventually plays itself out.
These include the gulags and Holodomor of the Soviet Union, the horrific famines of the Great Leap Forward in China, the killing fields of Cambodia, the Castro regime of Cuba, and the failure of Venezuela.
Additionally, the resolution quotes Thomas Jefferson, who wrote that "to take from one, because it is thought that his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his industry, and the fruits acquired by it."
Likewise, James Madison is also included as saying "is not a just government, nor is property secure under it, where the property which a man has in his personal safety and personal liberty, is violated by arbitrary seizures of one class of citizens for the service of the rest."
Again, no references to Social Security or Medicare, instead asking members of Congress, "do you denounce socialism in all forms, and oppose the implementation of socialist policies in America?"
