Politics & Government

Woodall: Future Depends on '12 Elections

Freshman representative predicts record turnout and says America is going to win because of it.

Rep. Rob Woodall (R-GA-07) is already looking forward to next year.

Speaking at the Aug. 11 Founding Fathers Tea Party Patriots meeting at the Flying Machine in Lawrenceville, Woodall said the packed town hall meetings and the passion of his constituents are good indicators that 2012 will bring a record turnout at the polls (see video).

“I’ve told anybody that will listen that 2012 is going to be exciting,” he said. “It’s going to be exciting, I’ll tell you, because everybody that President Barack Obama inspired to turn out to the polls in 2008 -- they are all coming back again.”

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The Democrats are not the only ones who will return to the polls, he added.

“Everybody that the Tea Party and 9-12 and other conservative groups inspired to come out to the polls for the first time in 2010, they are all coming back again,” Woodall added. “We are going to have the largest voter turnout in any of our lifetimes and America is going to win because of it.”

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Woodall said his only concern is that voter involvement could dissipate.

“I firmly believe, deep in my heart, the future of America depends on what happens in 2012. It’s just a question of whose future of America do you subscribe to,” Woodall said. “It’s that important.”

During his opening remarks,  to a vocally appreciative crowd of approximately 140 conservative voters.

“Washington D.C. hates the FairTax. Hates it absolutely and totally,” Woodall said. “There has not been, since 1787 and the establishment of the Constitution, the devolution of power from Washington D.C to the American people than that you would see would the abolition of the United States tax code.”

Woodall said there is no tax reform proposal that has more popular support than the FairTax even if support is lacking among some elected officials. According to Woodall, politicians that do not support the FairTax are putting themselves at risk of losing elections because of widespread conservative support of the tax reform legislation -- especially in Georgia.

“You guys who support the FairTax in Georgia have created an environment in one of the largest states in the Union where you cannot run for statewide or federal office without dealing with the FairTax and giving it your support,” he said. “That’s what it takes to win in Georgia and it takes that because you have demanded it.”

According to Woodall, the progress of the FairTax legislation shows that citizen involvement matters.

“It does not take a majority in this country to make something happen, it takes a committed minority in this country to make something happen,” Woodall said. “The Tea Party was a minority in the last election and look at what we got. Look at the change that we got.”

Woodall said the Democrats facing reelection have seen the power of the conservative vote at the ballot box and are responding.

“If you think for a minute this isn’t your opportunity to influence their votes over the next 18 months, I’ll tell you you’re mistaken. It’s a wonderful opportunity,” he said.

Woodall also encouraged those in attendance to support conservative candidates facing challenges outside the district.

“Find those folks you can believe in,” Woodall said. “If you believe as I believe that it is all about 2012, you can’t hold anything back.”

Citing the current budget crisis and the challenges on the horizon, Woodall said this is no time for concerned citizens to sit on the sidelines.

“We are right there on the edge between freedom and indebtedness -- the slavery that comes with indebtedness to the nation,” Woodall said. “Do not feel like that because you’re stuck in a conservative state that you can’t be influential elsewhere.”

Woodall fielded questions for about 45 minutes during Thursday night’s meeting. Question topics included foreign policy, National Public Radio funding, the budget, the Federal Aviation Administration privatization program and Obamacare.

Woodall said his constituents are still very concerned with the President’s healthcare plan.

“It is hard to legislate from the heart because the heart is something that lets you do well in interpersonal relationships, but it’s lousy in Washington, D.C.,” Woodall said. “I’d tell you Obamacare is the President legislating from the heart. What he says is ‘There are folks out there who have problems and I’m the President of the United States and I can solve those problems so here you go’.”

Woodall said the difficulty in trying to repeal the President’s health care plan is that by Congressional Budget Office numbers, Obamacare shrinks the deficits -- as a result of higher taxes and Medicare cuts.

“I think we’re going to get a Supreme Court decision on that next summer. I think that’s going to happen before the 2012 election,” he said.

Woodall said timing is critical since many of the provisions of Obamacare go into effect in 2014.

“Like all middle-class Americans, folks can get hooked on benefits,” Woodall said. “If we’re going to do something about it, we have to do something about it before 2014.”

Rep. Woodall will meet with constituents again on Tuesday, Aug. 16 during a town hall meeting at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center, 75 Langley Drive in Lawrenceville. The meeting will begin a 7 p.m. in the GJAC auditorium.


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