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[Page S2580]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MEDICARE
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, as I have mentioned, there has been a
remarkable development this week in the House. The Rules Committee held
the first hearing to discuss Medicare for None. It was another
demonstration of how disconnected our Democratic colleagues' agenda has
become from the best interests of working Americans and middle-class
families.
The last 2 years have been a case study on how much American families
benefit when Republican policies get out of the way. Helped along by
tax reform, regulatory reform, and other efforts, the country is seeing
starkly low unemployment, faster wage growth--more opportunities for
more families to get ahead and build their lives.
Rather than admit the obvious, our Democratic colleagues are choosing
to double and triple down on jacking taxes back up and making families
cede a larger role for Washington in their daily lives.
We have heard the pitch on healthcare. They want to trade seniors'
Medicare and all private, employer-sponsored health insurance plans for
a one-size-fits-all Federal plan and the higher taxes needed to pay for
it.
Just yesterday, a new report from the CBO confirmed that such a
scheme would substantially increase Federal spending and could lead to
longer wait times, worse quality of care, and a system less responsive
to patient needs.
On top of that, we know what our Democratic colleagues tried to sell
families when it comes to the Green New Deal: a Washington, DC, war on
our domestic energy that would cost Americans their jobs, increase
families' bills, forcibly change the homes Americans are allowed to
live in, industries they are allowed to work in, and, of course, the
cars they are allowed to drive.
Let's remember that all of this self-inflicted economic pain would
not really buy any meaningful gains in terms of carbon emissions. For
the better part of the last decade, as U.S. emissions actually
declined--emissions have been going down--our largest competitors, like
China, continued to emit more and more.
Hog-tying the U.S. economy in the name of further emissions
reductions would do nothing but give the largest emitters license to
keep on emitting while poaching American jobs in the process.
I don't think real progress is actually the point here. Facts are not
the motivating factor. My colleagues on the left think these self-
inflicted national injuries just feel like this greening of America is
the right thing to do. They just feel it.
Case in point, I understand that House Democrats are planning to pass
a measure today that would try to force the Trump administration to
remain in the 2015 Paris Agreement on greenhouse emissions. This is the
big international deal that the Obama administration cheered on. It
doesn't even pass the laugh test.
One expert analysis noted this week that even a generous estimate
puts the impact of America's participation on global temperature
reduction well within the margin of error: One-hundredth of 1 degree
Celsius. In other words, he points out, it is a completely unmeasurable
effect--tons of redtape and real economic damage for zero measurable
effect. That is my friends across the aisle in a nutshell on this
issue. Tie America's own hands for no benefit, while China and our
other international competitors go roaring right by, all so a few
pockets of high society can pat themselves on the back at the next
cocktail party.
House Democrats may see this as exciting political theater, but the
middle-class Americans I represent give it two thumbs down. So this
futile gesture to handcuff the U.S. economy through the ill-fated Paris
deal will go nowhere here in the Senate. We are in the business of
actually helping middle-class families, not inventing new obstacles to
throw in their paths.
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