Republican congressman Ted Yoho — a veterinarian from Gainesville, Fla. — says he is fighting a two-front war for his constituents.
The first one, President Obama’s fundamental transformation and lawlessness, was why he risked everything and ran against an incumbent Republican three years ago, making national news with a surprise primary upset.
The second battle for those like Yoho is against hostile Republican elites who seem more inclined to accommodate, than stop, Obama’s radical policies. Yoho voted against House Speaker John Boehner twice because his constituents want stronger opposition to Obama’s transformation of America.
He says there were some 70 Republicans promising to vote no at one time. After the vote, other than being pulled off a fact-finding trip overseas by the speaker of the House, he expects no further blowback. “If I lived in Russia, I’d worry about that; I would expect that.”
He continued, “I am voicing the concerns of those who sent me up here.”
In this 27-minute exclusive video interview with The Daily Caller filmed in early June, Yoho discusses that to hold this or any president accountable, Congress has to have courage to “stand up and defend the powers that have been given to the Congress by the Constitution.”
To refuse to use its powers makes Congress irrelevant, in his opinion.
Serving on the Foreign Affairs Committee has given him a front row seat to Obama’s “failed foreign policy.” Many believe Congress was duped into giving its treaty power away on the Iran deal and some are calling Obama’s efforts to give aid and comfort to an enemy “treasonous.” Additionally, polls show the deal’s unpopularity is rising.
Discussing other ways in which Obama is transforming the nation, Yoho mentions our growing debt, broken immigration system, erosion of national sovereignty with Obamatrade, allowing Obama to invade Libya without congressional authorization and Obamacare.
He says, “over two-thirds of the Republicans came here since 2010 and 90-100 percent of them ran on repealing and replacing Obamacare,” yet no replacement is publicly discussed.
Out of frustration, in April, Yoho introduced H.R. 198 to lay the ground rules to define 11 “high crimes and misdemeanors” for any president who should abide by his or her oath to the Constitution. This bill would for any president “chalk the field the day of the game” like a referee would in a football game, he says.
However, “this is not a game; it’s for our country. Enough is enough.” The bill has only two cosponsors right now, as to even raise the concept of impeachment, much less introduce a bill establishing expectations about it, is to challenge the frightened, politically correct Washington culture.
Yoho married his wife when they were both 19. He and his wife once spent six months on food stamps after he was laid off. Yoho has worked as a veterinarian for some 30 years before running for Congress. He is willing to reach across the aisle to defend this nation’s founding principles. He defeated a leadership-friendly, Republican incumbent Cliff Stearns in 2012 while being outspent more than four to one.
Besides working hard to meet and listen to citizens, the Florida congressman credits his slogan of “Had Enough?” along with Obama’s extremism and Republican weakness as the factors that propelled him to office.
For more on Congressman Yoho, here is his website and you can follow him on Twitter at @RepTedYoho and Facebook.
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