Medicare

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, on a completely different matter, for some time now, my colleagues and I have been speaking out about the Democrats' parade of fantastical new proposals--plans to spend unprecedented sums of Americans' money in order to seize unprecedented control over Americans' lives.

Just a few weeks ago, the Senate voted on the so-called Green New Deal. It was Washington Democrats' plan to power down the U.S. economy and have the Federal Government intrude on basically every economic transaction and personal life choice in radically unprecedented ways. The specifics of the proposal, limited as they were, painted enough of a picture for outside experts to roughly estimate the price tag at as much as $93 trillion, which is more money than the Federal Government has spent in its entire history, in exchange for the systematic dismantling of American prosperity.

It advocated for the abolition of the most affordable and plentiful domestic energy resources available to American families and a hog-tied American economy that our competitors would leave in the dust.

So it should come as no surprise that for the sequel we see and hear that Senate Democrats may soon officially introduce their proposed Washington, DC, takeover of health insurance--the plan I call ``Medicare for None.''

It is a fitting name for a proposal that would gut the Medicare Program as American seniors know it, reuse the label on a new, government-run, one-size-fits-all arrangement, and remove 180 million Americans from the private insurance they have chosen in order to funnel them into a system without choice.

What is especially ironic is that my Democratic colleagues are choosing to agitate for this pivot toward socialism during this particularly important economic period--at this particular moment, with more job openings than Americans looking for work for the first time since recordkeeping started, when we have seen unemployment reach a 49- year low and wages growing faster than they have in a decade. It is the kind of economy where a single mom in Mississippi says: ``It's amazing that I'm getting paid almost $20 an hour to learn how to weld.''

It is the kind of economy where garage door installers in Nevada say they are literally afraid to let potential new hires walk out the door because American workers are in such high demand.

Let's remember that this transformation is being helped along by Senate Republican ideas and policies that are the polar opposite-- totally opposite--of what our Democratic friends are now calling for.

Here is how Republican pro-growth and pro-opportunity policies helped us get where we are: by encouraging job creators to invest here at home instead of penalizing success; by recognizing that working families know best how to spend their paychecks, not Washington; and by creating conditions for an economic surge that touches every corner of our country.

Now all of America is reaping the benefits. This isn't like the last administration, where 75 percent of new jobs and 90 percent of the population growth flowed into the very largest metropolitan areas. This time it is an all-American comeback, and all kinds of communities are benefiting from more jobs, more opportunities, and more growth in pay.

Monday is tax day. It is not exactly a time many of us look forward to, but this year marks the first time Americans are filing under the new Republican tax reform law that has helped them keep more of their paychecks and has helped to create the outstanding economy we see today. Democrats may be working overtime to bring this bright chapter to an end, but over here, on this side of the aisle, we will keep making sure that this is still just the beginning of these brighter days for the American people.

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