Sherrod Brown: “Without the prospect of an election, if President Bush wins this election, if Republicans win the House, it is Katie…”

“Without the prospect of an election, if President Bush wins this election, if Republicans win the House, it is Katie, bar the door. Premiums, deductibles, copays, who knows what this is going to look like. More insurance company subsidies, more subsidies for the drug companies, two industries that have done so very, very, very well in this country. The drug industry is the most profitable industry in America for 20 years running, with the lowest tax rate. Insurance companies and HMOs had a 50 percent increase in their profits this year over last year, and that is before they got this, before all of this corruption led to their $290 million-a-month payout from taxpayers to HMOs. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Strickland) is right. When there is not an election, if President Bush was willing to increase premiums 17.4 percent, a record increase 2 months before an election, granted, he did it on Labor Day weekend when he hoped nobody would notice, but if he is willing to do that 2 months before an election, a very close election, you can wonder what he is going to do when those shackles are off.”