Rep. West: Democratic Policy Amounts to ‘Insidious Slavery’

Fiery freshman Rep. Allen West, R-Fla., offered harsh criticism of the social welfare policies favored by Democrats in a speech on the House floor late Wednesday.

"Our party firmly believes in the safety net," West said, according to The Hill. "We reject the idea of the safety net becoming a hammock. For this reason, the Republican value of minimizing government dependence is particularly beneficial to the poorest among us."

And how does West see the Democrats? "Conversely, the Democratic appetite for ever-increasing redistributionary handouts is in fact the most insidious form of slavery remaining in the world today, and it does not promote economic freedom."

West summarized the history of support the GOP has offered to African Americans in a speech that came in the middle of Black History Month, The Hill reported.

He pointed out that it was a Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, who signed the Emancipation Proclamation ending slavery. “The Republican Party has always been the party of freedom," West said.

And he lauded former President George W. Bush for signing a law to allow school choice in Washington, D.C. "What Republicans have long understood is that poor communities are best served when they're empowered to care for themselves," West said. “The more they come to rely on government checks, the less they learn to rely on their own ability and ingenuity.”