Technically, I had to read this page 'cuz I'm at work...but I would have read it for free:

Rep. Price calls 2010 the Year of the Elephant

MARIETTA - 2010 is the Year of the Elephant, U.S. Rep. Tom Price (R-Roswell) says.

The keynote speaker at the Cobb GOP's Saturday breakfast, Price ripped the President, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other leading Democrats, singling Obama out as "philosophically incapable of doing the right thing," spurring applause from about 130 people in attendance at Williamson Bros. B-B-Q in Marietta.

Among his targets was Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), who cast the 60th vote to approve the Senate's health care legislation last month. The House approved its own health care legislation in November, meaning the two bills must now be merged to become law. In exchange for Nelson's vote, Senate leaders agreed to exempt Nebraska from paying for an expansion to its Medicaid program at the expense of the rest of the country, a move Price calls the "Cornhusker kickback."

"When Sen. Nelson sold his vote, he sold it in a way that I believe to be unconstitutional and illegal because what he said, what he agreed to, and what the Senate agreed to, was to say that the citizens of Nebraska don't have the same responsibility as you or I," Price said.

By requiring every American to purchase a service regardless of whether they want that service, Price said the health care legislation is unconstitutional. A number of groups are waiting in the wings to file suit should it be passed into law. The question before Democrats in the House and Senate now is do they represent their constituents or their leadership, Price said.

"If they represent their constituents then they'll do something that is much more targeted, much more focused, that actually accomplishes some real reform. If they represent their leadership they'll act on a ridiculous bill that will violate all sorts of principles," he said.

It's not that Republicans are "the party of no," a party opposed to healthcare reform. But Democrats won't let Republican proposals come up for discussion let alone a vote. Talking offline to longtime House Democrats about Speaker Pelosi is revealing, Price said.

"They say this is the most oppressive, controlling speaker that they have ever served under, that this individual has taken her power to an extreme. She has no desire to work in a bipartisan way at all, never has been. She is basically shutting out 48 percent of the American people who elected their representatives. It is as oppressive as it can be," he said.

As for Obama's administration, it doesn't just shut out Republicans. Within 24 hours of the Christmas Day terror attack, the Obama administration stopped any information coming from the executive branch to the legislative branch, Price said.

"The president can act in whatever way he deems appropriate until either the courts step in or the people step in. This is the type of arrogance though that is consistent with his style of leadership that the American people are objecting to," Price said.

A low point for Price in 2009 was when Congress in February approved Obama's $787 billion stimulus plan, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Price said he was proud of Republicans for voting against the legislation for "money that we don't have borrowed from folks that don't like us to pay for the pet projects of politicians."

"Every dollar that the government spends is a dollar that the private sector can't. If you believe that the private sector, that small business is the energy of our economy, which is as I believe, then you gotta do things that will invigorate small business, not invigorate government," he said.

On the topic of national security, Price decried the Obama administration's treatment of detainees at the Guant namo Bay detention camp, granting them all the constitutional rights of a U.S. citizen rather than treating them as enemy combatants.

Speaking of the Christmas Day terrorist, Price said, "Can you imagine if that individual were treated as an enemy combatant, the information that we would have had in one week? And to do anything less than that is wrong and irresponsible and reckless."

There was some good news in 2009. For instance, the national energy tax legislation never made it out of the Senate, nor did the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill Price calls the "Democrats' secret ballot destruction scheme." Perhaps most positive, he said, was the "awakening of the American people," who turned out to protest through the Tea Party movement.

"People saying, 'I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore.' That's what's important. It's that American spirit that says, 'we're not going to let these folks do this. We're not going to let them do it,'" Price said.

With their string of unpopular moves from the stimulus to healthcare, Price believes Democrats have created an opportunity for Republicans to take back the House, Senate and presidency.

"It doesn't take a majority to prevail but an irate and tireless minority keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men and women," Price said, citing a favorite quote by Samuel Adams.

Georgia Republican Party Chairwoman Sue Everhart of east Cobb said Price is "on the money."

"The one thing that I was so excited about was when he was talking about taking back America. It's up to the grass roots not up to people in Washington, and I am grass roots, and I intend to keep Georgia red and elect more people like Tom Price," Everhart said.