Steve Rothman: “let us make no mistake about what this debate is all about. It is about privatization, not about whether we should save…”

“let us make no mistake about what this debate is all about. It is about privatization, not about whether we should save taxpayers' money. Did you know that today, any Federal manager who wants to outsource or privatize any or all of his or her Federal workforce's jobs can do so? Today they can outsource or privatize any or all of their work if they can demonstrate it saves taxpayers' money. So why has the Bush administration and so many of my Republican colleagues said we need a quota where by the end of fiscal year 2003, 85,000 Federal jobs must be privatized when they can do so now if the managers feel it is important and will save taxpayers' money? Why do they want that privatization quota? Because my friends on the Republican side of the aisle, most of them, and this President, believe in privatization. That is why they still want to privatize Social Security. That is why when we talked about prescription drugs for seniors, Democrats said put it under Medicare where it will be safe and all seniors can get it. My Republican friends said, no, prescription drugs for seniors, give it to private insurance companies to manage. Privatize it, just like the Medigap coverage. They believe in privatization. They hate big government. That is why they wanted to privatize Social Security, that is why they voted against Medicare when it first came up, and they want to do this now with prescription drugs and these employees.”