Political Quotes

“Mr. President, the country is debating a lot of issues. We passed the health care bill last year. Now there is an effort in the House to repeal and replace it. I join my House colleagues with the idea that we should start over and come up with some product that is truly bipartisan that will lower costs. All the information we received about this bill since it was passed is showing it is going in the wrong direction. In May 2010, CBO Director Doug Elmendorf stated: Rising health care costs will put tremendous pressure on the Federal budget during the next few decades. In CBO's judgment, health legislation enacted earlier this year does not substantially diminish that pressure. We are getting more and more input about the effect this bill has on cost because there are over 700 waivers now in terms of the mandates. Forty percent of all the waivers given are to union health care plans, and the union workforce is 7 percent of the total workforce. The idea that more and more people are asking for waivers indicates that the cost component of this bill is a real problem for the country. The whole goal of health care reform is lower cost and improved quality. I am afraid what we have done with the health care bill is we have increased costs, consolidated power in the Federal Government, and Medicare and Medicaid already are unsustainable when it comes to Federal financial obligations.…”