March 30, 2011: House Member Accuses Obama of Attempting to ‘Deplete Military’ in Order to Create Private Army

US Representative Louis Gohmert (R-TX) says on the floor of the House that President Obama is trying to “deplete the military” so he can create his own private army through a provision in the recently passed health care reform legislation. Gohmert, railing against health care reform, says: “It’s a bad bill. And then when you find out that the prior Congress not only passed that 2,800-page bill with all kinds of things in it, including a new president’s commissioned officer corps and non-commissioned officer corps. Do we really need that? I wondered when I read that in the bill. But then when you find out we’re being sent to Libya to use our treasure and American lives there, maybe there’s intention to so deplete the military that we’re going to need that presidential reserve officer commissioned corps and non-commissioned corps that the president can call up on a moment’s notice involuntarily, according to the Obamacare bill.” Gohmert is referring to debunked claims made in a recent spate of chain emails that Obama can create a “private army” under the new health care legislation (see April 7, 2010). The legislation did create the “Ready Reserve Corps,” an arm of the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, but its purpose is to help the government more effectively respond to emergencies and natural disasters. [Political Correction, 3/31/2011] Gohmert has expressed a number of strong views regarding health care reform in the past (see July 16, 2009 and July 24, 2009).