Health Care Reform Alert: Administration's Own Scorekeeper Confirms -- Passing Reid Bill Is Worse Than Doing Nothing

Statement

As if it weren't enough to have it confirmed by numerous factual reports from sources such as the Congressional Budget Office, the Senate Budget Committee, the Joint Committee on Taxation, now we hear from the President's own chief scorekeeper that passing the Reid health care bill would be worse than doing nothing.

The Chief Actuary of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Rick Foster, issued a report last week concluding that the Reid bill would increase health care costs, threaten access to care for seniors, and force people off of their current coverage. In other words, the Administration's own analyst conclusively demonstrated that the Democrats' rhetoric does not match the reality of their bill. You can read the CMS report for yourself here.

In addition to this bombshell report from the Obama Administration's experts, the Chair Of The President's Council Of Economic Advisers admitted, "We are going to be expanding coverage to some 30 million Americans. And, of course, that's going to up the level of health-care spending. You can't do that and not spend more." Additionally, Majority Leader Harry Reid is facing growing opposition to his bill from Members of his own party in the Senate. Below are a few recent comments by Senate Democrats regarding the Reid bill:

Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA): "{I'm} rather skeptical that those cuts {to Medicare} are sustainable . . . . I have a lot of concerns about Medicare. I think it's important to express those views on these votes…I'll see what the bill looks like when we get to the end of it."
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO): "We have to be saving more money for our government than we're spending. And if we're not saving more money for our government than we're spending, then not only will I not support it, the president said he won't support it."
Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE): "I said I can't support the bill with the abortion language that's there."

And according to the New York Times, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), said "that he would vote against the health care legislation in its current form." According to the Times, "Mr. Lieberman told the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, to scrap the idea of expanding Medicare and abandon any new government insurance plan or lose his vote."

Harry Reid is certainly hearing from Democrat Senators about his health care bill, and I want to hear what you have to say about this debate and your thoughts on how to achieve real reform. Join the dialogue live now on my Facebook or Twitter pages, which I personally monitor and update throughout the day: www.facebook.com/Sen.JohnCornyn or http://twitter.com/JohnCornyn

Links
VIDEO: Floor Speech on the Reid Health Care Bill.
WEB: My Health Care Reform Headquarters Page.

Senator John Cornyn wants to keep Texans informed and engaged as the debate on health care reform moves forward in Washington. Please visit www.cornyn.senate.gov, www.facebook.com/Sen.JohnCornyn, or http://twitter.com/JohnCornyn to share your ideas for how best to reform our health care system and to recommend others who might want to join the dialogue by receiving these Health Care Reform Alerts.

For more information on these and other topics, go directly to my Web site. I also welcome the opportunity to connect through Facebook, where I share updates, articles and videos related to my work in the Senate on a regular basis.To view floor speeches, interviews and other video messages from me, please visit my YouTube Channel. To receive additional updates, please select the issues that interest you listed on the right. It's an honor to serve you in the United States Senate.

Sincerely,

U.S. Senator John Cornyn

Source