On the recordJanuary 29, 2014
Mr. President, I appreciate the comments of my colleague from Arkansas and prior to him those of my colleagues from Missouri and Wyoming--we will be hearing in a minute from my colleague from Nebraska--all of whom are expressing sentiments that are conveyed to them by their constituents in their individual States about the very real and very personal impacts ObamaCare is having on them. Last night, in the President's State of the Union speech, he sort of glanced over that issue. It is kind of the equivalent of a driveby. He sort of acknowledged the law. He said it is not going to change and if Republicans have better ideas, then come forward with them. We just heard the Senator from Missouri, Mr. Blunt, list 10 or 12 things that we think could be done that would be dramatically different and would be a dramatic improvement in a very different approach from what is included in ObamaCare, which is a heavyhanded, government- driven solution to health care, which essentially puts the health care in this country, which is one-sixth of our economy, under political control here in Washington, DC. As a consequence, what we are seeing out there are higher premiums, higher out-of-pocket costs in the form of deductibles and copays, canceled coverages, and fewer choices when it comes to doctors and hospitals. That has been the real-world impact of the passage of ObamaCare. The President said when he was running for office he was going to reduce health care costs by $2,500 per family.…





