Political Quotes

“Mr. President, let me move on to my second point. Again, I come from a State whose Governor showed real courage in recognizing that traditional Medicaid was unsustainable and was in trouble. The last thing we really should be doing to an unsustainable entitlement program is to throw more promises on top of that and make it even more unsustainable. I think it is extremely important that we recognize that Medicaid expansion is directed toward able-bodied, childless, working-age adults. That is, again, funded at a much higher level by the Federal Government, at 90 to 100 percent, versus traditional Medicaid, which is really targeted to those we want to help--children. Forty percent of traditional Medicaid goes toward children, the disabled, and the elderly. My next amendment is designed to try and make traditional Medicaid more sustainable, not by pulling the rug out from anyone but simply by limiting further enrollment and allowing Medicaid expansion to phase out based on attrition. Let me show you a couple of facts, because we hear an awful lot of demagoguery. We hear an awful lot of scaremongering. I hear it in Wisconsin, as people who are on traditional Medicaid and who are largely unaffected by this bill other than in the out years are scared that their traditional Medicaid is going to be taken away from them. Here are the facts. Back in 2008, the Federal Government spent about $200 billion on traditional Medicaid.…”