Last month, I wrote about how Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) introduced a non-binding resolution, asking the House of Representatives to condemn socialism in the wake of New York City electing Zohran Mamdani as its next mayor. It was more theater than anything, but it was also a chance for the House to show the people of the United States — well, most of us anyway — that they stand in solidarity with us in wanting to keep socialism out of our country. It was the opportunity to show that they still support the American dream and values.
Only the Republicans were able to do that. Democrats were split, with 98 voting against it and 47 refusing to vote at all.
For many of them, it was personal. They knew he horrors of these failed ideologies firsthand. Salazar is the daughter of Cuban exiles. Korean-American Rep. Young Kim (R-Calif.) had witnessed it in the aftermath of the Korean War. And Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), well, apparently, she and Fidel Castro were besties, so she saw it from the other side, and she threw a little hissy fit when Salazar pointed this out.
Related: WATCH: Maxine Waters Doesn't Like It When You Bring Up Her Love Letters to Fidel Castro
On Tuesday, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) made a similar move in the Senate, calling for the unanimous passage of a resolution condemning socialism "as a failed ideology and the antithesis of the American Dream." According to Scott's website, he believes that "socialism has only ever led to tyranny and less opportunity for all – and Americans will always reject it." Sounds reasonable enough.
Scott made the following remarks on the Senate floor, explaining that the answer for those who are struggling financially isn't more government, and it never has been. That's why so many people leave countries that practice it in hopes of coming to the United States.
When I talk to families in Florida and around the nation, I hear often how they’re struggling to make ends meet. The cost of health care is up, owning a home has become nearly unattainable.
The former administration pushed the American dream further and further out of reach for so many families. I grew up in public housing, and my family didn’t have much. And I look across the country, and I see families, just like mine growing up, that are doing everything they can to make ends meet.
But I knew I had the opportunity to do anything because the American dream was alive. As Governor and Senator, my goal has been to keep the American Dream alive so every family can have the same opportunities I did.
That dream and those opportunities don’t exist under socialism. When crazy radicals in New York City and across this country villainize capitalism and push socialism, they forget that they’ve benefited from the very system they criticize.
Socialism has never worked. It’s just an old, barbaric discredited idea that’s failed every time it’s been tried. Just look at Cuba and Venezuela and the many families who fled those brutal regimes to live in my state of Florida. It kills opportunity.
We need to drive down costs. The answer isn’t more government – it’s less. We need to do what we did in Florida: cut taxes, reduce government regulations, and grow jobs.
The United States was built on individual freedoms and opportunities, and the right of every individual to pursue the American Dream despite coming from nothing, just like I did. That’s what America stands for.
It's a message that every single member of our American Congress should be able to agree on, but when there were calls for objections, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) stepped his pretty little self up and did just that.
Senate Democrats just BLOCKED my House-passed resolution condemning socialism as a failed ideology and the antithesis of the American Dream.
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) December 9, 2025
America stands for FREEDOM and OPPORTUNITY. Why can’t @SenateDems agree? pic.twitter.com/0yvsavqOGH
"Do I think that Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin were bad people?" he asked. "You bet. Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro, Pol Pot, Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Un, Daniel Ortega, Hugo Chavez, Nicolas Maduro, sure, no questions asked. Do I think the Bolshevik revolution was a good idea? I wasn't around at the time, but from what I've read, it wasn't, was not."
He went on to say that these were just crimes committed by socialist regimes, but... Then he started nitpicking at the wording of the resolution in an effort to find a way to avoid committing to an anti-socialism stance and said that, without socialism, we wouldn't have programs like Social Security and Medicare.
But then it goes on to explain in terms of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison just what they mean by socialism in this resolution, and that's where you lose me. Because when it's all said and done, I'm a little bit worried.
When Franklin Delano Roosevelt created something called Social Security, you know what they called it? Socialism. When Lyndon Baines Johnson created Medicare for millions of Americans, do you know what they called it? Socialized Medicine. So when your conclusion where you say, 'Congress denounces socialism in all its forms and opposes the implementation of socialist policies in the United States.' Does that include Social Security? Does that include Medicare? I would think those programs might be important in your state. They sure are in mine, and for that reason, I object.
Scott tried to explain to Durbin that these programs are not the true definition of socialism; they're social insurance programs that don't redistribute funds from the haves to the have-nots for no reason. But it was too little too late. There's no way these Democrats are going to go on the record with this.
"We've all been blessed. We grew up in a country that believes in capitalism," Scott said. "So I invite any of my colleagues that believe socialism is good to visit Cuba or Venezuela. I don't see many people flocking there. I see them flocking out of there into my great state and to other states."
He continued, "Socialism is a proven path to tyranny, starvation, and, as my colleague brought up some of these things in the resolution, death... I'm just disappointed that we didn't, weren't able to get this passed."
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