On the recordMarch 10, 2010
I rise to speak to the Senate health care bill and to talk a little bit about some of the issues related to that bill, in terms of financing and scoring and, to be very candid, about some of the accounting gimmicks that try to hold this bill together. If you start to study the bill, and for many of us who have served in other capacities--myself as Governor and as a mayor--the first thing you want to do is ask yourself: Does it work? Is the financing of this bill such that it makes sense? Is it an honest portrayal of the income you expect and the expenses you expect? The one thing about this health care bill that struck me immediately and struck others is, first of all, there are 10 years of tax increases. They total over $1/2 trillion--a massive amount of tax increases. The second thing you see is, there are 10 years of Medicare cuts, again about $1/2 trillion total. When you put that all back together, you begin to realize what you have is a health care bill that costs about $2.5 trillion over a 10-year score.
