Political Quotes

“Clearly, I think we can all agree on what are the goals of health care reform. We want access to quality care at an affordable price. And it kind of gives us a nice way to judge each of these. I am struck. Medicare is going bankrupt in 7 years. Medicaid is bankrupting States, and we're about to create a third entitlement to rescue the first two. And a third entitlement that is going to be based upon the House bill and the Senate bill. The Congressional Budget Office has said of both the House bill and Senate bill that they more than double costs within 10 years. So we're going to go from a status quo which may double costs in 10 years, to a reform which more than doubles costs in 10 years. Folks ask me how do I like my first year in Washington, D.C. I say, it's a crazy place. We pass a reform to control costs which is more expensive than the status quo--and that is important because the American people since August have been saying, Mr. Speaker, that we need to control costs. They understand that you can give everyone access, but soon our costs are out of control and access is gone. You can give everybody the highest quality, but unless you control costs, again you break the bank. So the American people since August, and with the Senate election in Massachusetts putting an exclamation mark behind the sentence, are saying, Control costs.”