Political Quotes

“I thank my colleague from Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I was happy to see not the last speaker but the previous Republican speaker--I think he was the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Byrne)--actually say that he wanted to repeal the Affordable Care Act because that is what this is all about. I guess I could take some happiness in the fact that we are not having an outright repeal of the Affordable Care Act on the floor today, but I know that this effort is really about repealing the bill. It is a piece-by-piece approach, where the Republicans want to basically tear down what--in my opinion, and when I go home my constituents say--is an excellent program. More and more people are signing up for the Affordable Care Act. More and more people are getting insurance at an affordable price with subsidies and the expansion of Medicaid. The Republicans know that they can't repeal it outright, so now, they are trying to do it piece by piece. There is no kidding ourselves as to what this bill will do. It is going to increase the deficit, adding $53 billion to our debt. It is going to increase the number of uninsured. It will shift more people onto public programs, and it will cause workers who are currently receiving employer-sponsored health coverage to lose that coverage. My Republican colleagues claim this bill is necessary to protect jobs, but the fact of the matter is that the Affordable Care Act has strengthened the job market.…”