Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding, Madam Speaker, and I rise in support of this resolution to honor our veterans who did so much to preserve our freedom during the Cold War. It is unfortunate that we may be about to pass a massive health care bill that will take away an important part of that freedom that those veterans worked so hard to preserve. Madam Speaker, Robert Samuelson, a very middle-of-the-road economics columnist for the Washington Post, wrote a column this week entitled, A Cost-Control Mirage. Mr. Samuelson wrote that the health care plan we will vote on tomorrow ``evades health care's major problems and would worsen the budget outlook.'' He added that ``It's a big new spending program when government hasn't paid for the spending programs it already has.'' Every government health care program has far exceeded all cost expectations and has cost many times more than what is predicted. Medicare cost just $3 billion a year after it was created and $453 billion last year. Its unfunded future liabilities are estimated at a whopping $38 trillion. Medicaid is also out of control at both Federal and State levels. Last week, the Governor of Arizona estimated that this new health care bill would cost her State alone $4 billion that they do not have, when Arizonans are facing their biggest deficit ever--over $3 billion.…”