Political Quotes

“Madam President, the editorial highlights a point that I have been making since I first offered an amendment to strip the CLASS program from the health care reform bill back in December of 2009. The inclusion of the CLASS program is perhaps one of the most brazen budget tricks used by the majority in the health care reform bill. As the Wall Street Journal says: CLASS was added to the bill because it was among the budget gimmicks that Democrats needed to create the illusion that trillions of dollars of new spending would somehow reduce the deficit. Due to the 5-year vesting period required by the CLASS program, premiums will be coming in long before benefits must be paid. That pot of money somehow is simultaneously used to reduce the deficit and pay for other programs within the health care reform law. When it is clear to Americans that the money is not there to pay benefits to beneficiaries, this administration will be long gone, and taxpayers are going to be left holding the bag. It is, at best, disingenuous the way the Democrats have promised individuals who participate in the CLASS programs that their premiums paid into the CLASS system will be available to pay out future benefits. When I asked Secretary Sebelius about this program earlier this year in a Senate Finance Committee hearing, she called the program ``totally unsustainable.'' But HHS continued to push forward toward implementation, asserting that they have the authority to make changes in the program.…”