Political Quotes

“This bill really is not about health insurance reform. If you watched the President's televised health care forum, you heard them say it time and time again: this is about entitlement expansion. And that is really where the real debate comes down this center line. Both sides agree that there needs to be heath care reform. Republicans have put forward a thoughtful bill since last April promoting reform, competition across State lines, covering people with preexisting conditions, on and on and on. But how can my friends on the other side of the aisle endorse this bill when the Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan determiner of how much these bills cost us, has not come out with their cost estimate for this bill? I know from my home State of Illinois, our Governor is talking about a 50 percent tax increase to pay for $9 billion in unpaid Medicaid bills. This bill we do know will cost my State of Illinois $1.89 billion over 5 years just for their match. I don't know how anyone from my State can support this bill.”