Lois Capps: “Mr. Chairman, the budget before us does not reflect the values of this country, particularly in the area of health care.…”

“Mr. Chairman, the budget before us does not reflect the values of this country, particularly in the area of health care. More than 40 million Americans are uninsured, according to Kaiser. Children, including unborn children, and pregnant mothers are particularly hard hit by this crisis. But instead of trying to do something to help hard-working people, instead of acting to shore up what little health care low-income, working Americans have, this budget wastes resources and cuts important funding. We can all agree that when budget deficits are soaring, we cannot afford to throw money down the drain on inefficient proposals, but this President's proposal to offer $70 billion in tax credits to working poor people is a waste of taxpayer dollars. According to experts, it is going to help only 5 percent of the uninsured. We could spend this money more efficiently to help far more of the uninsured. Instead of squandering the taxpayers' money on an inefficient tax credit, we should direct Federal resources to expanding already existing public programs that have proven effective. The Republican budget, however, cuts $2.2 billion from just such a program: Medicaid.”