Political Quotes

“First there were a number of amendments, I think over 100 amendments, to the health care bill that were offered by the Republicans. An alternative was offered by the Republicans as voted on as we went forward. Block grants, several Governors have come to Washington and talked about block granting Medicaid to give them the opportunity to not just deal with Medicaid in their States but there was the other part of their budget. But I can tell in Kentucky, because I used to be a member of the State legislature, as Medicaid has continued to consume more of the State budget, it becomes more difficult to adequately fund. Higher education tuition rates are going up directly because of the pie of Medicaid that's moving forward. We passed medical liability reform, which saves the Federal Government $54 billion, as estimated by the Congressional Budget Office. We are going to have the bill tomorrow to purchase health insurance across State lines to make health insurance more affordable instead of more expensive on those who spend money out of their own pocket, as we have seen the estimates for the health care bill. Now, the one thing about relying on funding for 1 year, we do appropriations for everything from defense to other things on an annual basis. And I will tell you there are not people turning down Federal money because you are only appropriating it for 1 year, we don't want to commit to a long-term program.…”