On the recordJanuary 19, 2011
I am delighted we have the opportunity today to revisit the health care bill that was passed last year. I am delighted because, first of all, when it came to the floor last year, this bill affected every aspect of health care in America, and we did not have the opportunity to offer one amendment on the floor. In addition to that, this bill takes $500 billion out of Medicare, which means less money to nursing homes, hospitals, and Medicare beneficiaries. Then the claim that this would reduce the deficit by $138 billion was calculated by including 10 years of tax revenues under this bill but only 6 years of expenditures. How can you claim that we are supporting insurance companies by repealing this bill when the insurance companies supported the bill, and they supported the bill because it mandates that small businesses and individuals buy health insurance? So I would urge the repeal of this legislation, and then we can fix health care the way it should be fixed.
