Linda McMahon Statement on Health Care Vote
“Only In Washington Can A Bill That Increases The Deficit, Adds To The Debt, Raises Premiums On Working Families And Slashes Medicare Be Categorized As A Cost-Savings Health Care Reform Bill.”
West Hartford, Conn. – Republican U.S. Senate Candidate Linda McMahon issued the following response to last night’s health care vote in the House of Representatives:
“Last night’s vote in the U.S. House of Representatives is a symbol of a broken Washington. Relying on backroom deals, arm-twisting, accounting gimmicks and political threats, Congress rammed through, on a party-line vote, a government takeover of health care that fails to accomplish its stated goal of reducing costs. The American people deserve a government that listens to the people, but when Congress passes a momentous change in social policy impacting every American without a single Republican vote, it is effectively shutting out half the country from the process.
“I’m opposed to this health care bill because I believe real reform that expands access to health care and reduces costs can be achieved without increasing taxes on families and small businesses, without imposing costly new mandates on small businesses, without increasing individual premiums, without slashing Medicare on Connecticut’s seniors and without shifting future Medicaid costs to the states.
“Real reform requires bipartisanship. Instead of choosing broadly supported step-by-step reforms focused first and foremost on reducing unsustainable increases in costs, this bill raises costs. To pay for $2.5 trillion in spending, this bill will raise taxes by approximately $500 billion, and the preponderance of that cost burden, including scores of costly new mandates, will fall squarely on the backs of America’s struggling small businesses at a time when they are already paralyzed in a climate of unpredictability. The bill will raise individual premiums by 10% to 13% while cutting Medicare by nearly $500 billion and further burdening our state with additional new Medicaid costs.
“Only in Washington can a bill that increases the deficit, adds to the debt, raises premiums on working families and slashes Medicare be categorized as a cost-savings health care reform bill. This isn’t reform. It’s time for something different.”
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For more information, contact the Linda McMahon for Senate Press Office, 860-244-2010.