On the recordMarch 8, 2011
We are coming up, in 2 short weeks' time, on the 1-year anniversary of the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, affectionately known as ObamaCare. Mr. Speaker, what has that year wrought? Many of us will remember the Speaker of the House a year ago, Speaker Pelosi, saying, We have to pass this bill so we can understand what's in it. Well, it's been a year. Do we understand what's in it? The answer is we do, and people don't like what they see. What about the oft repeated claim ``If you like what you have, you can keep it''? It turns out that is incorrect. What about the waivers that have been issued since October? Now well over a thousand waivers have been issued by HHS. Why have those waivers been issued? They have been issued because this policy doesn't work. And worse than not working, it costs a ton of money. Mr. Pitts just mentioned that in February the deficit in this country was $223 billion for 1 month, the shortest month of the year. This is as good as it is going to get. What happens when you have those subsidies in the exchanges that subsidize middle class purchase of health insurance in this country for the first time? That's a high pressure tap into the Federal Treasury. It's really wrong and it has to stop.
