Fox News Channel Interview - Transcript

Interview

Fox News Channel Interview - Transcript

Fox News Channel Interview With Senator John Cornyn

Subject: Health-Care Reform

Interviewers: Martha Maccallum and Trace Gallagher

Copyright ©2009 by Federal News Service, Inc., Ste. 500, 1000 Vermont Ave, Washington, DC 20005 USA. Federal News Service is a private firm not affiliated with the federal government. No portion of this transcript may be copied, sold or retransmitted without the written authority of Federal News Service, Inc. Copyright is not claimed as to any part of the original work prepared by a United States government officer or employee as a part of that person's official duties. For information on subscribing to the FNS Internet Service at www.fednews.com, please email Carina Nyberg at cnyberg@fednews.com or call 1-202-216-2706.

MS. MACCALLUM: We're joined by Senator John Cornyn of Texas, who has some very strong opinions on this. Senator, welcome. Always good to have you with us.

SEN. CORNYN: Thank you.

MS. MACCALLUM: I think a lot of folks at home -- you know, one of the biggest concerns -- you know, and I've heard it from people in my own family and friends -- that they're not sure if they should believe this idea that their health care's not going to change if they like it.

SEN. CORNYN: Well, the question for Congress is whether we're going to solve a problem, which means providing a means for 12 million people who are uninsured to get insurance, of whether we're going to create a problem by making it impossible for people like your family members to keep the health coverage they have right now.

If we pass a so-called public plan or government-run plan, like the president's proposed, then the estimates are that more than a hundred million people will ultimately lose the coverage they have now and end up in a single-payer, Washington-run health-care system.

MS. MACCALLUM: Senator, what do you think about the -- you know, the criticism of Republicans that, you know, they had opportunities to work on this problem that they didn't follow through on, and that the -- sort of, you know, "have your own plan" or "your own portable plan" that John McCain talked about in the election -- why weren't those ideas put into place when -- you know, when Republicans had the opportunity? Because now Democrats have been voted into power and, you know, people are getting what they voted for, basically.

SEN. CORNYN: Well, I guess people are getting what they voted for, but I don't think many of them reckoned they would get it quite this badly. We tried to pass small-business health plans which would help bring down the cost of health coverage for small businesses to enable a lot of people that didn't have or couldn't afford insurance to get it. But we were denied that by our friends who are now in power, the Democratic leadership.

But all that aside, I think now is the time for people to come up with their alternative suggestions, one which will allow people to keep the coverage they have, help bring down the price, and empower individuals and not the government when it comes to health-care coverage and health-care decisions.

MR. GALLAGHER: But Senator -- it's Trace Gallagher, and thank you, sir, for joining us -- I just have to go back into this thing. The president said again and again on the campaign trail and last week that if you like your insurance you get to keep it.

Now the White House comes out and says, "Well, he didn't really mean that literally. What he meant is" -- and I'm quoting here -- "that the government isn't about to barge in and force people to change their insurance." Well, they kind of are, because this could end up costing 120 million people -- or causing 120 million people to change.

SEN. CORNYN: Well, you're right, Trace. What they're proposing is that government compete with the private sector. And, as we know, government is an unfair competitor, and essentially what it'll do is run all private health-care coverage out of the market, leaving only -- the government the last plan standing. And, as some analysts have estimated, as you said, about 120 million people will lose what they have now.

So what the president has said on the campaign trail is literally not true, and I think he's coming to acknowledge that now by trying to use a little bit different description.

MR. GALLAGHER: And the question everybody else would ask, Senator, is, "What else is he sugar-coating?" If he's saying, "Okay, this" again and again and again, and it's not really true, what else about this plan are we being sold that we don't know about? I mean, are we just kind of leaving the details because they're not very popular?

SEN. CORNYN: Well, I think one of the big problems is they said you can actually save money by spending money now. Only in Washington do people really believe that, or at least they're willing to say it with a straight face.

The fact of the matter is, we spend 17 percent of our economy -- 17 percent of our gross domestic product on health care right now. We have enough money that's currently wasted and lost due to fraud and other waste that we could use to cover more people and solve the problem. Instead they want to basically have the Washington takeover, which I think people should be very concerned about.

MR. GALLAGHER: But as Martha said, Senator, it's popular. People want this. I mean, the polls show now people want health care. Do they want it because they're not being told the whole story? Or is this something they just want?

SEN. CORNYN: Well, Trace, that New York Times poll that came out yesterday was a very skewed sample. I think there have been some particularly good blog coverage, like Power Line blog, talking about how that sample was so skewed as to be essentially meaningless.

So I think when people find out that essentially what they're being given is a choice to have the government direct which doctor they see, whether they can see a doctor, or when they can see a doctor, they're going to turn this down and say, "Let's get to business solving the problem, and that is covering about 12 million people who don't have coverage, and please leave the rest of us alone."

MR. GALLAGHER: Texas Senator John Cornyn. Senator, thank you.

SEN. CORNYN: Thank you.

END.

Source