Political Quotes

“Senator McCaskill and I are again offering this amendment that would place a cap on discretionary spending in which we participate in every day but that tends to violate the budget. Our budget is a critically important component of our financial management. I have been a member of the Budget Committee for a number of years, and it is very frustrating to see how it has gotten around the budget. The legislation that is before us is just another example of violating the budget in ways that are not responsible. For example, the unemployment compensation and the payments to physicians are not emergencies. They are just not. Any responsible household, any responsible city, county, or State government knows that. When those leaders deal with financial crises, they have to figure out how to handle them. What we are doing with this legislation before us is borrowing money to pay a fundamental obligation of the United States of America, which is to pay doctors an adequate wage for doing Medicare work. They are already paid less for Medicare than private insurance pays them for doing the very same procedures, but we have another shortfall here. If Congress does not pass legislation, physicians will take a 21-percent cut in the amount of money they are paid. That cannot work because our physicians are already, in many cases, losing money on Medicare treatment of our seniors. They cannot take a 21-percent cut. They will quit doing the work. This is not a matter of debate.”