March 12, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 44 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session
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Medicare for All (Executive Session); Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 44
(Senate - March 12, 2019)
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[Pages S1769-S1770] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] Medicare for All On a final matter, here is a quote: ``I think the $33 trillion price tag for `Medicare for all' is a little scary.'' That came from a Democratic Member of Congress who happens to sit in a leadership role. She sounds worried, and I don't blame her. The new House Democratic majority has wasted no time--no time at all--rolling out one half-baked socialist proposal after another. Apparently, the remarkable job growth, wage growth, and new opportunities pouring into communities across America have failed to persuade my Democratic friends of a simple reality: Things go pretty well when government gets its foot off the brake and lets American families live their lives without oppressive supervision from Washington Democrats. Apparently, that is just inconceivable, because the outlandish, government-driven proposals to take over one economic sector after another continue to roll in. We have all heard about the Green New Deal--the far left's master plan to hurt American energy independence, disrupt millions of workers' livelihoods, put entire industries out of business, and let Washington regulators redesign every building in America, while letting China and other countries off the hook. That is just for starters. We have all heard about the price tag as estimated by the one research outfit that has actually taken a shot at hanging some numbers on all the vague, pie-in-the-sky language. They calculated the total could exceed $90 trillion. But let's not lose sight of the other party-defining, socialist pivot many Democrats are rushing to embrace: Medicare for None. Yes, Democrats [[Page S1770]] have taken the pulse of the American people, and here is what they have decided: They have decided that American seniors want their Medicare hollowed out until the only thing left is the name. They have decided that middle-class families are eager--eager--to be kicked off their health insurance plans and forced into a one-size-fits-all government alternative. Oh, and they have decided that taxpayers up and down the income scale are clamoring--just clamoring--to send much more of their money to the IRS. No choices. No options. No alternatives. No more Medicare as we know it. Every single American has to obediently take a seat and buckle up for the Democrats' wild ride toward government-run health insurance. The sequel to ObamaCare and its soaring premiums is coming soon to a Democratic press conference near you. This time, they want to turn the entire system over to those bureaucrats and make it unlawful-- unlawful--to possess competing private coverage. That sends quite a message, doesn't it? My colleagues are so confident American families will love their new government-mandated healthcare plan that they feel compelled to outlaw any competition. It has already been quite an experience watching liberal leaders grapple publicly with the question of whether, in fact, their movement is seriously going to double down on these socialist policies. Michael Bloomberg said this sort of proposal ``would bankrupt us for a very long time.'' Speaker Pelosi herself had to wonder publicly, ``How do you pay for that?'' Well, if you are Vermont or Colorado--two places that have flirted with the idea of single-payer healthcare-- there is a simple answer: You don't pay for it because you can't. In 2014, when Vermont grappled with a proposal to implement a State- run, single-payer system, the Governor's office was forced to conclude from its own analysis that the cost of the program would nearly double State spending in its first year of implementation and could lead to $100 million deficits within 5 years. That was in Vermont. In 2016, Colorado Democrats put forward a ballot measure to pursue this in their State. Once again, the program's costs were projected to exceed the entire State's budget. So voters rejected it. In Colorado, 80 percent of them rejected it, to be exact. Those are just two States, but this is exactly the kind of broken mathematics that Democrats are now hoping to force on our entire country--an estimated $32 trillion over the first 10 years, at least. That is more than the government has laid out in the last 8 years, combined, on everything--on everything. I am sure we will be advertised the same old leftwing talking points about millionaires and billionaires magically paying for all of it. How often have we heard that? As I have noted before, it is just not possible. There are not enough millionaires and billionaires in the entire country to pay the tens of trillions of dollars this takeover would require. Even if the IRS seized every cent Americans earned beyond $1 million--all of it, took all their money--it wouldn't even cover half the hole this proposal would leave in the Treasury. That is why one economist wrote that ``the simple fact is that Medicare-for-all would require a dramatic shift in the federal tax structure and a substantial tax increase for almost all Americans.'' Almost all Americans. Even leading Democrats can't help but laugh at this stuff. This was Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York describing this idea in the context of his own State. This is what the Democratic Governor of New York said: No sane person will pass it . . . you'd double everybody's taxes. You want to do that? So parts of the Democratic Party here in Congress are running towards a policy that even the stalwart liberal Governor of New York derides as out-of-this-world expensive and impractical. No wonder some Democrats are worried about the radical rumblings within their party. Fortunately, the American people don't have to worry a bit--at least not for now. This craziness will never get through the U.S. Senate. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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