Political Quotes

“it is not fair that a self-employed person cannot deduct 100 percent of health care costs when a large business can. A self-employed person is denied that deductibility, even though we have worked since 1995 when this body accepted my amendment at that time to increase the deductibility of insurance costs for the self-employed. Still, only 60 percent of the health insurance cost is deductible by the self-employed. I have talked to a lot of these people. They cannot wait until 2003 when they will get 100-percent deductibility. My amendment says there is 100-percent deductibility this year and makes sure that the 5 million Americans in households headed by self-employed can get health care coverage, including 1.3 million children. It also corrects a disparity in current law which says if a self-employed person is eligible for health coverage from another plan, a second job, or a spouse's plan, they cannot deduct. This says you can deduct so long as you do not participate in another health care plan. I thank my colleagues on both sides and my colleague from Illinois. I urge this body to accept the amendment.”