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Gov. Haley Barbour speaks with reporters following his speech at the Neshoba County Fair in Philadelphia, Miss., Thursday. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
"Obamacare is a government-run health care system that would result in a federal government takeover of 18 percent of our economy," Barbour told several hundred people under the tin-roofed pavilion on the fairgrounds outside Philadelphia.
The Neshoba County Fair attracts thousands of people every summer to the red clay hills of east Mississippi, with two days of political speeches during the eight-day gathering.
Because there are no statewide or congressional races in Mississippi this year, fewer politicians spoke in the pavilion. Spectators sat in rows of wooden pews and waved paper fans to stir up a tiny breeze in the muggy heat.
Barbour, the new head of the Republican Governors Association, said the Obama administration's climate-change legislation would increase energy costs for consumers and businesses. He said "the left and their allies in the liberal media elite" claim the environment bill would help the economy, but he said the bill would destroy jobs.
State Treasurer Tate Reeves, a Republican, also appealed to the politically conservative crowd Thursday by saying Obama and congressional Democrats are running up the federal deficit and trying to "nationalize" health care.
"That's not hope. That's not change. That's not America," Reeves said.
Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann focused on his job as overseer of state elections and public lands. Hosemann, a Republican who took office in January 2008, said public school districts are now receiving $22 million more for land leases that have been renegotiated. He said the leases are now generating $77 million a year.
During an interview after the political speeches Thursday, Barbour told reporters that as head of the Republican Governors Association, he's concentrating on getting his GOP allies elected to governorships in several states during the next two years.
"My day job is state government," Barbour said. "My hobby is national Republican politics."
I read somewhere that he had been grounded from his laptop and that his mother was posting comments for him now?
Either way knowitall appears to be a minority on this board.
Mr. Reeves, in regards to the nationlization of health care that will take place soon....That IS hope. That IS change. This IS America!
The poor and the working class people should NEVER vote for a republican.Because they just don't like you,and want you to stay on the bottom.
Federal legislation of heathcare reform including public options WILL lower the price private employers pay for health coverage and will reduce health care costs, healthcare coverage premiums for those that currently have private insurance and provide better quality medical care free from insurance company goons denying policyholders claims.
If you wanna call it 'Obama Care'....suits everyone just fine.