Political Quotes

“We have to know that. We have a responsibility, as representatives of the people, to understand are we talking about another $100 billion in cost over just 1 year's time that we weren't expecting. I believe the Budget Committee is a good forum to have that. The Senator and I serve on that committee, and I hope Senator Conrad can agree and would agree to give Secretary Sebelius an opportunity to state her view of the situation. I have to say, I am more and more convinced that we cannot afford this health care bill. We cannot afford it. We don't have the money. We don't have the money. I think it will damage health care, and we have had a lot of debate and experts tell us that, and it will reduce the quality of care in America. But what I am saying to the Senator is, we can't afford it, and it threatens the financial viability of our future. We need to save Medicare and Social Security, the programs we have. It would be a terrible tragedy if we start off on another program. As the Senator talked about Medicare 30 years ago, 40 years ago, it surged way beyond any estimate they would ever have expected in terms of costs. If we start on another program, I don't see how this country can sustain it. The entitlements we have today are now taking up about 60 percent of the entire budget of America: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid. Over 50 percent, almost 60 percent of our entire spending goes for those three programs.…”