Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my strong objections to the health care legislation, H.R. 3950, and the unprecedented, process through which it is being considered. The overwhelming majority of Americans are telling Washington through their letters, calls and every poll that they don't want this bill. Nearly eight in ten of my constituents who have contacted me on this issue have asked that I vote against the bill. Social Security is already unsustainable. Medicare is unsustainable. Medicaid is unsustainable and reimbursements are already so low that few doctors will even see Medicaid patients. These programs have tens of trillions of dollars in unfunded liabilities. Rather than fix these problems, the bill before us makes them worse. This bill takes over $500 billion out of Medicare and spends it on this new health care plan. It adds millions of new enrollees to Medicaid--already one of the fastest growing federal and state budget line items. H.R. 3950 takes over $53 billion out of the Social Security Trust Fund and spends it on this new health care plan. And, they say that this bill will save the taxpayers money. The American people have figured it out and that is why they want this particular piece of legislation stopped. It's not that they don't want health care reform; it's just that they don't want this particular bill. No one is suggesting that the status quo is acceptable.…”