Heidi Alexander: “the premise of my remarks was that we don't do comprehensive very well in the U.S. Congress. That was challenged by some…”

“the premise of my remarks was that we don't do comprehensive very well in the U.S. Congress. That was challenged by some of the conservatives on the panel today. That was my point. My suggestion was that those who were elected in the 2010 election not make the same mistakes as those elected before made, which, in my opinion, was not just to head in the wrong direction but to try to do it all at once. It is one thing to think comprehensively; it is another thing to act comprehensively. There have been multiple attempts to repeal the health care law from the day it passed. Our efforts at comprehensive immigration and comprehensive climate change fell of their own weight. I am tempted, as I am sure most people are, to make comprehensive changes. We talked about some examples with the panel. Take education. I suppose I have had about every position on education reform possible. I have been for abolishing the Department of Education. I have been the U.S. Department of Education Secretary. I have been both. I remember as a Governor in 1981, I went to see President Reagan and asked him to swap all of elementary and secondary education for Medicaid.”