Allen West: "Obama has "Complete Contempt" for Congress

Congressman Allen West told Newsmax that President Barack Obama has “complete contempt” for Congress and is starting to believe that he has an “imperial presidency.”

The Florida Republican says Newt Gingrich is the “smartest” GOP candidate but thinks any of the Republican hopefuls can beat Obama in what undoubtedly will be a “brutal bloodbath.”

West also asserts that sanctions will not succeed in deterring Iran’s belligerency and warns that the United States should not cut the defense budget to make the military the “bill-payer” for Washington’s failure to rein in spending.

West, who was elected in 2010, is a member of the House Tea Party Caucus. He is also an Army veteran who served for more than 20 years, with postings in several combat zones, and retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

President Obama has said he is hopeful for an improved economy in 2012. In an exclusive interview with Newsmax.TV, West was asked whether Americans should feel that way.

“No, they shouldn’t,” West declares. “President Obama is just going to sit back and hope that things fall into his lap.

“He’s not going to do anything as far as reforming our tax code so that our small business owners have some sort of predictability. He’s not going to do anything to lower the corporate tax rate and eliminate loopholes. He’s not going to do anything to correct the regulatory environment that his administration is putting forth. In 2011, his administration added more than 71,000 pages of new regulations to the federal registry.

That’s not how we’re going to heal this economy.”

Asked whether Obama has given up on “hope and change,” West responds: “I think the president has given up, period, and he’s in a campaign mode. He’s going to disengage from Washington, D.C. That’s not leadership, that’s an abdication of leadership.

“What concerns me is the rhetoric around [Obama’s recent recess appointments]. He is going to bypass Congress. He has a complete contempt for the legislative branch. We don’t have an imperial presidency, but I think that is what he’s starting to believe.

“We have to be very vociferous about this. We’ve got to get in the arena and battle the president and the liberal progressive ideology in the arena of ideas.”

Read more: Newsmax.com

Thoughtsjustoffcenter: I like Representative Allen West, LTC, US Army (Ret). He is a breath of fresh air in a corrupt body of the American legislative process. I wish we had many more Representatives and Senators like him. It is not the governments job to make sure that everyone is successful in life. It's their job to ensure that they have an opportunity to suceed. If someone doesn't use it, it's their (the individuals) fault, not societies.

When is "O" going to provide true leadership? I don't think he can. He has never led anything or anyone larger than a small group of organizers. Has he ever studied leadership, it's traits, or have any of the morals required to be a leader? I think not! He had to have someone else train his dog, as he is incapable of teaching anyone anything.