Political Quotes

“I think it is extremely fitting that Senator Hagel and 14 of our colleagues have joined me in introducing a bipartisan bill to provide tax relief for a group of hard-working Americans, namely the self-employed. What we are trying to do with this bill... is to say that people who are self-employed, small business people, farmers and the like, should enjoy the same tax benefits of deduction for health insurance premiums as corporations. This is only simple fairness. If I work for a big company, they can literally write off every penny of the cost of my health insurance that they pay. However, if I happen to be a farmer in central Illinois, or a self-employed woman in Chicago working at home at a computer, and I go to buy health insurance, only 40 percent of the premiums could be deducted. That is unfair and it creates a real disadvantage. We should encourage people to take out health insurance. The best way to encourage them to do it is to make it more affordable by providing full deductibility.”