Blog: President's Health Care Proposal Ignores Demands of American People

Statement

Ignoring the promise he made last week to give Congress four to six weeks to craft a health care reform bill, the President today asked Congress to move forward with the same bill that the American people have already rejected.

The proposal he put forth is not health care reform, it is a massive expansion of the federal government. Currently, health care expenditures account for 16% of our nation's GDP. This is unsustainable, and one goal of reforming health care must be to enact sound policies that drive health care costs down and ensure that all Americans can access quality and affordable health care. Unfortunately, this bill will do exactly the opposite. It fails to deliver on the promise to lower health care costs, and will instead actually increase costs for many Americans. It also imposes new taxes, fees, and penalties, which will fall on the backs of hard-working Americans.

While I fear that the true cost of this bill will not be realized for months or years, we already know that it steals half a trillion dollars from Medicare beneficiaries in order to fund new government programs. The American people have made it clear that they do not want legislation that cuts Medicare benefits or dramatically increases federal spending and taxes. I hope Congress listens to the American people's common sense.

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