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For the first hour of the House of Representatives' day, representatives make floor speeches of anywhere from one to five minutes. The speeches are a way of getting specific objections into the record outside of debate, or memorializing someone (like Geraldine Ferraro this week), or discussing issues. Mostly, they go unnoticed by the public and the press.

It's really too bad they're ignored, because some of the best, most passionate, most fiery moments are made during these speeches, framing arguments and messages for both parties and moving forward agendas.

Today's winner of the best floor speech is Rep. Pete DeFazio (D-OR) for his ridicule of stupid GOP cuts to important and small programs in favor of defense spending and oil and farm subsidies.

DeFazio zooms in on the YouthBuild America program, which takes kids who have problems, have dropped out of high school and trains them to build homes for underprivileged, low-income families. They get counseling, job training, and spend a year honing those skills. Here's an excerpt from their fact sheet:

YouthBuild addresses several core needs of low-income neighborhoods including: housing, education, employment, crime prevention, and leadership development. The ultimate goal of the YouthBuild program is to help young Americans transform their own lives and their roles in society by contributing to better outcomes for their communities.

Now, we know why Republicans don't like this program. They don't like it because those now-trained, skilled young people will be able to have productive jobs and even (gasp!) join a trade union as they continue to hone their skills in the workplace. And of course, they really don't like any low-income folks receiving government assistance with housing and the like when it doesn't come as a selective gift from Those Who Have Money To Bestow As They Please.

Remember the Republican maxim. Memorize it: Love the fetus; abandon the child.

Full transcript follows:

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Woot! I love it when we get some plain-spoken truth on the House Floor. Such a refreshing change from the Republican lies and fear-mongering.

The Republican record defies their rhetoric. Remember their so-called Prescription Drug Benefit for Seniors passed in the dark of the night? No one read the bill, didn’t know what was in it. Cost 700 billion dollars ‘cause that was subsidizing the pharmaceutical and insurance industry. But now, they’re worried about costs. It gave the seniors a donut hole.

Now their concern is not about what they’re stating. It’s about their patrons in the insurance industry. Because this bill has real reforms of the worst abuses of the insurance industry. It takes away their unfair anti-trust immunity, so they can no longer collude to drive up premium prices or restrict coverages. The Republicans would continue the anti-trust exemption. This bill outlaws the unfair pre-existing condition restriction. Republicans would continue that for the insurance industry. This bill would not allow the industry to cancel your policy even though you’ve been paying your premiums when you get sick. It’s called recission. The Republicans allowed that abuse to continue. This bill, on our side, outlaws the small print that limits your lifetime coverage, which bankrupts families every day in America. The Republicans allow it to continue.

And that’s not enough. They’ve opened up a new loophole, their so-called national plan: a company would only be regulated by the laws of the state in which it was based when it sold you a policy. If you live in Oregon, but you bought a policy that was written--and oh, by the way, they expand the definition of state to include the territories in the Mariana Islands—so if you’ve got a problem, call the Mariana Islands Insurance Commissioner. That’s the Republican plan and profits to the insurance industry!