Pete Stark: “Republicans talking about saving Medicare remind me of the man who murdered his parents and begged for mercy as an…”

“Republicans talking about saving Medicare remind me of the man who murdered his parents and begged for mercy as an orphan. They are making a blatant attempt to distract the public from a tax bill that takes $87 billion out of the Medicare Part A Trust Fund over the next 10 years and gives it to the rich. And Republicans are crying crocodile tears about the trust fund being in danger? ``Hello, Earth to Republicans: Your hypocrisy is showing.'' I urge Republicans to reread their views on last year's health reform bill. In that bill, Democrats saved the Medicare Trust Fund by getting all health spending under control. The billions we saved in Medicare helped the uninsured, expanded Medicare benefits and provided a prescription drug benefit for everyone. Democrats used Medicare savings to improve the entire health care system. Where were the Republicans? They voted against any and all Medicare savings. In their dissent 10 months ago, they said ``reimbursement levels * * * have reached potentially disastrous levels'' and ``additional massive cuts in reimbursement to providers * * * will reduce the quality of care for the Nation's elderly.'' Now the militant radical right wants to cut three or four times more than we did. How can they now say it will not hurt quality? Newt can't reform the system with more managed care and vouchers.…”