Jeff Flake: “I rise today out of some reluctance to take a position at variance with the leadership of my party. I do so, however…”

“I rise today out of some reluctance to take a position at variance with the leadership of my party. I do so, however, because I believe that the direction we are headed with this bill on prescription drugs is inconsistent with the Republican Party's principles of limited government, economic freedom, and individual responsibility. I hope that my opposition to this bill does not imply my support for the Democratic alternative. While we Republicans are surely headed off the fiscal cliff, the Democrats' plan would only get us there much faster. This legislation is a prime example of the question debated in high school civics classes all over the country: Are we as Members of Congress sent to Washington to vote the wishes of our constituents or the demands of our conscience? We have all read the polls. It is clear that seniors want a prescription drug benefit as part of a traditional Medicare. Further, seniors seem skittish when it comes to substantive Medicare reform. These findings are often cited by supporters of the legislation. Rarely cited, but certainly understood, is the fact that seniors vote in numbers disproportionate to their size of the electorate. But as sitting Members of Congress, we are also aware that adding a new entitlement of this size is wholly unsustainable. Even without this new entitlement, Medicare will go bankrupt within the next couple of decades.”