Political Quotes

“on the first day of debate on the floor of the Senate on the Bipartisan Patient Protection Act, supported by a majority of the Senate, a majority of the House of Representatives, and virtually every health care group in America, what was the response of the President of the United States? A written veto threat on patient protection legislation. In fact, this written veto threat could very easily have been written by the big HMOs. It duplicates what we have been hearing from the big HMOs from the very outset of the fight for patients and doctors to give them real and meaningful rights. It reminds me a great deal of what was said to the New York Times by a consultant for the big HMOs. When brought to his attention that they were spending millions of dollars to fight against patients and against doctors, millions of dollars on lobbyists, broadcast television ads and public relations, this was his response: We'll spend whatever it takes. The HMOs of America are prepared to do whatever is necessary and to spend whatever it takes to make sure that the patients of this country and the families of this country never get the protection they deserve. We have a message for the big HMOs of this country. We are prepared to fight as long and as hard as is necessary to ensure that finally the big HMOs no longer have their privileged status, that the families and patients of America are protected. That is what this debate is about.…”