Dick Durbin: “Time and again, our friends on the Republican side of the aisle say we should contract out Government services…”

“Time and again, our friends on the Republican side of the aisle say we should contract out Government services, privatize them, to save the taxpayers money. They say, if you will just get it away from the Government bureaucracy and put it into the private sector, we will show you how to really provide a service at a low cost. Sadly, many times that doesn't happen. The costs go up, the quality is not good, and we are stuck with private-side contractors when we contract out. Now we have an interesting turn of events. We hear from the Republicans and conservative side that we don't want a Government agency to be able to compete with the private sector. We don't think that is going to be fair. There is no real choice there. There is a choice. I think the choice is obvious. If Medicare-- speaking for the vast majority of senior citizens--can bargain for lower prescription drug prices, the winners will be not only the seniors who will pay less but the taxpayers who will pay less. The $400 billion in this bill will go a lot further if we can have lower cost prescription drugs. I say to my friends on the Republican side of the aisle, don't be afraid of competition, and don't be afraid if one of the competitors is Medicare. The seniors who you represent have already voted on this issue by a 9-to-1 margin. They prefer traditional Medicare. We should not be afraid of it.”