Political Quotes

“That is not only a promise that has been broken, that is a promise that is very easy to quantify because, on July 29, 2009, during the consideration of this health care reform law, the President said: Medicare is a government program. But don't worry: I'm not going to touch it. So let's take a look at the health care law and see if that promise was kept. The health care law made significant cuts in Medicare programs. This is what we can quantify in dollars and cents. On April 22, 2010, the Chief Actuary of Medicare analyzed the law and found that it would cut Medicare by $575 billion over 10 years. The President said, about Medicare, as I told you, ``I'm not going to touch it.'' But the President has touched it in a big way: $575 billion out of Medicare. Medicare is on a path to go broke by 2021; $575 billion is not going to guarantee Medicare for everybody in the future. We have to reform and change Medicare if that promise is going to be kept. We all want to do that, but the President has made that more difficult. The Congressional Budget Office wrote that over $500 billion in Medicare reductions ``would not enhance the ability of the government to pay for future Medicare benefits.'' You know what the President said during the debate on this bill: ``I'm not going to touch it.'' But he has touched it in a big way.…”