Political Quotes

“I appreciate that. Thanks again for hosting this hour. Whether we're talking about addressing the deficit or whether we're talking about saving Medicare--frankly, both of those issues are intertwined--we've got to save the country, and we've got to save the Medicare program. What we cannot do is allow the politics of 2012 to affect the problem-solving of critical problems in 2011. That's what we have seen so far. Where the facts are evident and clear that this country is facing a critical deficit that could bankrupt it and where the numbers for Medicare are such that its insolvency is impending and bankruptcy occurs and it goes away, these are critical problems, and they shouldn't be demagogued as we bring solutions to the floor to debate. That's what has been happening. So there is no way we should allow the politics of 2012 to affect the critical problem-solving of 2011. After the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, I had the privilege as a health care professional to be recruited to serve on a technical expert panel for Medicare. At the time, it was the Health Care Finance Administration. Today, it's the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Based on that experience, this is necessary. This is a necessary debate. This is necessary in order to save Medicare, and it's an opportunity for us. We have had previous reforms. The most recent one I saw was under President Bush where he created the waiver program.…”