Political Quotes

“Quality, affordable health care should be a fundamental human right, not a privilege for the few, as my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would have it. Today, 47 million Americans are uninsured, including 9 million kids. Meanwhile, the CEOs of private insurance and drug companies are raking in huge profits. Take the case of WellPoint. They proposed increasing rates by as much as 39 percent in California, even as they made $4.2 billion in profits last year and paid out million-dollar compensation packages to their top executives. These rate hikes would hit Democratic and Republican districts alike. And the other side would have us do nothing. We talk about the big banks making a killing off of taxpayers. Well, insurance company executives are literally getting million-dollar compensation packages while our constituents are dying. Health reform is long overdue. The 31 million people this bill will cover are Democrats, they are Republicans, they are Independents, they are Greens, and they are people with no party affiliation. This should not be a partisan issue. The costs of inaction are much too risky, they are much too costly, and we must act now.”