Health Care Reform

Floor Speech

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Mr. BARRASSO. I thank my colleague from South Dakota because South Dakota and Wyoming are very similar in many ways. Both have rural areas all spread across the State, with people needing health care.

And I have seen it. I have seen the concerns from people, but also from small businesses. My colleagues mentioned the National Federation of Independent Business. A lot of businesses in Wyoming are members of that organization, and rightfully so, because small business is the engine that drives the economy. They are the job creators in this country.

I see these taxes--4 years of taxes--before the first health care services are given as going to hurt our small businesses in Wyoming. It is going to hurt small businesses all around the country.

In one of the morning papers, it talks about the plans that are being presented by the Democrats, with all the increases in health costs--the fines, the taxes, that this will cost 1.6 million jobs before the first health care services are given in 2013--1.6 million jobs across the country. That affects all of our States.

At a time when unemployment is at 10 percent, at a time when Investor's Business Daily, this morning, says: ``Job Cuts Hit Hardest on Low-Skill Men; Outlook Is Gloomy,'' at a time when we are looking at an outlook which they call in the headlines of the front page of their paper ``gloomy,'' why would we say: Lets increase taxes on Americans, and then cut Medicare from our seniors who depend upon Medicare, and lets not improve services for 4 more years?

It is no surprise then that the Republican leader would come to the floor and say we have now reached an all-time high of American people opposed, completely opposed, to this piece of legislation. The Republican leader read a poll that said 61 percent of Americans now oppose this bill. Well, it is because they are learning more about it. The more people of America see what is in this bill, the more they realize they cannot believe any of the promises that were made by the Democrats, by the administration, the promises that were made, and the polling shows it.

Two specific questions that were asked in the poll were two specific promises that the President made. One is, he said he will not sign a bill if it adds one dime to the deficit. OK. We do not want to add to the deficit, although the Democrats want us to vote this weekend on raising the debt level by well over $1 trillion. And why? Because they cannot control the spending. But the question was, do you think the Federal budget deficit would or would not increase if this bill is passed--when the President said it will not raise it by a dime?

Mr. President, 79 percent of Americans said this is going to increase the deficit. Only 19 percent believe what the President is telling the American people.

Then the question of taxes. The President said: My plan will not raise your taxes one penny. What do the American people think when the President speaks? Question: Do you think your taxes would or would not increase? This is the CNN poll the Republican leader just talked about, done earlier this month: Do you think your taxes would or would not increase? The number of people who believe their taxes will increase if this passes, 85 percent. Eighty-five percent of the American people believe they are not getting it straight from the President of the United States. Only 14 percent believe him when he says he will not raise taxes a penny.

So we have the Democrats bringing forth a bill--to me, as a practicing physician in Wyoming, taking care of families in Wyoming, talking to doctors, talking to patients, having townhall meetings in the State, having telephone townhall meetings, the Democrats bring forth a bill that the people of Wyoming and the people of America realize is going to cost them more, is going to add to the deficit, and hurt the health care they receive.

Eighty-five percent of Americans are happy with the health care they receive. They do not like the cost. They do not like the price. But this bill we are looking at is going to raise premiums for people who have insurance. The President promised that for families all across America, their premiums would drop by $2,500 per family. But if you go out there trying to buy insurance, if this bill passes, you are going to end up paying $2,100 more than you would otherwise if nothing passes.

That is why the majority of Americans say we would be better off if nothing passed. That is what the American people say. The Democrats seem to be ignoring the voice of the American people. At a time of 10 percent unemployment, at a time when the National Federation of Independent Business points out that we will lose over a million more jobs if this passes, we should be looking at ways to help small businesses hire more workers, hire more people.

The small businesses continue to be the engines that drive up the economy. Senator Collins from Maine was on the floor and gave an explanation of some of the taxes on all of the small businesses in Maine. If you have 10 employees and you go to an 11th employee, if this bill passes, that small business gets penalized for growing their business.

We want to have an opportunity to hire people.

She also explained that if we actually try to work ways through small businesses to give raises to people, those businesses get penalized from a tax standpoint.

As I look at this health care bill, we need health care reform that is going to bring down the cost of care. This bill is going to raise the cost of care for all Americans. It is going to hurt our seniors by taking almost $500 billion out of Medicare, a program on which the seniors depend. It is going to raise $500 billion in taxes which is going to hurt the engine that drives the economy. It is going to hurt small business. It is going to cause people to lose their jobs. I think it is foolish for people to continue to support this bill. It makes no sense.

I listened to my colleague from South Dakota who showed the chart that says 21 days until the tax increases begin but almost 4 years until the benefits begin. What do the people in South Dakota have to say about this?

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Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I would respond to my colleague from Texas that I think she is absolutely right. The more people learn about this bill and the details of the bill, the more the American people oppose this bill.

My colleague from Texas made a wonderful point yesterday and again today when she said if they start this tax collecting right now, do we even know the money is going to be there 4 years from now to start supplying the services. There was a story in today's USA TODAY talking about unemployment in this country, and the story says:

Public Gain, Private Pain. For Federal workers there is a hiring boom. The Federal Government is adding jobs this year at a rate of nearly 10,000 per month.

We have read about all of the different bureaucracies that will be brought into play if this passes: over 70 new bureaucracies, 150,000 more Federal employees, more Washington bureaucrats to make rules and regulations that affect the people of America. It talks about the 10-percent unemployment in the country. It says, it is the new Federal jobs--not the small business jobs, the Federal jobs--that have helped bring down the unemployment rate from 10.2 to 10 percent. It is the Federal jobs.

I am looking at all of this money that Washington is going to collect. I used to think it was a big gimmick so they could say, Well, we have kept the number under $900 billion. I still believe it is a big gimmick, but I am concerned they are going to spend the money as well so the money won't be there, which is the point of the Senator from Texas, who has been very fiscally conservative, out there always making sure we are not spending the taxpayer money in any way that is not a wise use of the money.

Is that one of the concerns the Senator has? I know the Senator from South Dakota has similar concerns: Will the money be there if they are going to hire more Washington bureaucrats, which is what USA TODAY says?

Mr. THUNE. That is exactly what our concern is. I would also add this recent study that came out yesterday by the CMS chief actuary sheds a lot of additional light on what is a very bad proposal, a big government proposal that does create 70 new programs here in Washington, DC, but does nothing to affect in a positive way the health care costs that most Americans are dealing with right now. The actuary goes on to say that access to care problems is plausible and even probable under the Reid bill.

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Mr. BARRASSO. To follow up, the small communities of this Nation have great concerns about these cuts in Medicare because the small community hospitals that stay open know they have to live within their means. When Medicare cuts total over almost $ 1/2 trillion, it is the small communities that have just one hospital in a frontier medicine mode taking care of people who may live 50, 100, or 150 miles away, those hospitals' very survivability is at stake.

That is why we cannot pass this bill, which will hurt seniors, raise taxes on the American people, cost jobs, and cause people who have insurance to have their premiums raised. For all these reasons, this bill is the wrong prescription for America.

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