Congressman Tom Price (R-GA) issued the following statement regarding President Obama’s stop in St. Louis today to deliver his 52nd speech on health care reform.

“The White House wants to blame resistance to the Democrats’ health care takeover on poor communication, but this will be President Obama's fifty-second health care speech since taking office,” said Congressman Price. “While the President often declares that the time for talk is over, he’s still talking. No matter how much forced dialogue he engages in, Americans still want us to scrap his plan and start over. The sales pitch isn’t the problem here; Americans just don’t like what Democrats are selling.”

“Real reform would increase access by bringing down costs and giving patients more control, but Democrats are pushing a plan that empowers Washington and actually increases national health care spending by $222 billion over ten years. New taxes and mandates on employers will prevent job creation while limiting patients’ choices and raising the cost of insurance. While the federal government has no constitutional authority to compel Americans to buy anything, the Democrats’ plan forces you to buy health insurance or face the wrath of the IRS. They’re also using shady accounting to conceal the fact that taxpayer funds will subsidize abortion coverage for the first time in our history.”

“It’s time the President stopped lecturing Americans and started listening to them. It’s time to scrap this government takeover of health care and start over with reforms that empower patients.”