Senate Proceeding on Oct 26th, 2009 :: 1:40:10 to 1:55:45
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1:39:58 to 1:40:19( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: quorum call: a sen: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be rescinded. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to ask to speak up to 15 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i listened recently -- actually a few minutes ago to the majory leader, senator reid, talk about his melded bill, the combination of the senate finance committee

1:40:10 to 1:55:45( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: John Cornyn

1:40:20 to 1:40:43( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: bill and the health, education, labor, and pensions committee bill that he has now completed merging behind closed doors. he said he's going to send it to the congressional budgetffice to get a score or cost estimate. and my hope is that we will all be able to see it soon. we have not been able to participate in that process,

1:40:44 to 1:41:05( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: since it's been a process taking place just between the majority leader and presumably senator dodd and senator baucus, the chairmen of the two committees, without republicans being able to be even present. so we don't know what's in it, and we don't know how much it costs. and certainly those are two critical questions that the american people are asking, and those of us who will be required

1:41:06 to 1:41:26( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: to vote on this legislation at some point would like the answers to. when will we be abl to see it? when will the american people be able to see it? and how much will the bill but today i want to focus on another question. why is it that some people in

1:41:27 to 1:41:49( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: th country think that another government-run health care plan is the answer? why is it that some people argue that another government-run health care plan is the answer? a government-run plan goes by a lot of different names. it's, i think, an attempt in part to obfuscate and to hide

1:41:50 to 1:42:10( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: what people are trying to do. sometimes people like to call it the public option because it sounds innocuous. who could be against a choice, an option if it's not mandatory? others talk about, well, they're not for a public option unless it has a trigger. others talk about opting in. we just heard the majority

1:42:11 to 1:42:32( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: leader talk about a bill that he intends to introduce that provides an opt out for the states. but the reality remains the same. we are talking about a brand-new entitlement program, a brand-new government-run health care program run out of washington, d.c.

1:42:33 to 1:42:54( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: based on theundamental, i think and misguided belief that one size fits all for a nation of 300 million peopl some of my colleagues believe a government plan is gaining momentum. i appeared yesterday on a sunday television show with senator schumer, the distinguished senator from new york, who said he thought that the congress was

1:42:55 to 1:43:16( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: right on the cusp of a public option or government-run plan. but i think the more the american people find out about what is really meant by the public option, the less they like it. last week we post"-abc news poll that supposedly said that support for

1:43:17 to 1:43:37( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: a government-run plan was growing. in fact, support has fallen by five points since june. but these numbers can misleading. as the distinguished presiding officer knows, politics and public opinion polling, he or she who gets to ask the questions, to frame the

1:43:38 to 1:43:59( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: questions, he or she who gets to decide what the sample is can have a dramatic impact on the answers given to a poll. but i think it's absolutely the case that support for the so-called public option drops dramatically when you explain to people what it would actually do. c news polling director gary

1:44:00 to 1:44:21( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: langer wrote about this dynamic in june. he note that had while 62% initlly favored a so-called public option, that number dropped from 62% to 37% once it was explained to people that it would put many private insurers out of business because they couldn't compete with the federal gornment and the

1:44:22 to 1:44:42( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: so-called government plan. in other words, support dropped when people realized that they wouldn't be able to keep what they have now, which is one of the president's promises because many driven out of business, and thus, that promise that president obama has made time

1:44:43 to 1:45:03( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: and time again would not be possible under the public option or government plan. today in "the washington post", fred hyatt, explained why a government plan would end up breaking president obama's promise. a government plan would work like medicare or medicade. those are and they would, as medicare and

1:45:04 to 1:45:25( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: medicade do, pay providers at low rates. as a matter of fact, last week we had a -- had a vote on a bill -- actually motion to proceed, a technical -- a technical vote. but one that would have taken us to a bill to basically reverse the cuts in medicare reimbursement res to medicare providers.

1:45:26 to 1:45:47( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: but it wasn't paid for. it would have added $300 billion to the national debt and so 13 democrats joined with republicans to defeat that. and hopefully we'll go back to the drawing board and come up with a bill that will be paid for. but the point is any new government plan,

1:45:48 to 1:46:08( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: pointed out, would pay medicare and medicade operates rates and pay providers much less than they could get under private insurers. they would make up the difference by charging more for the same services. this is a so-called cost-shifting phenomenon. then, private insurance

1:46:09 to 1:46:29( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: premiums, if you have private coverage now, those would increase for people who have health insurance coverage now. ultimately some of them would be forced to drop their private insurance because it would be moreexpensive, not -- more expensive, not less, thought the object of this

1:46:30 to 1:46:51( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: exercise is how cost, not how to drive them up. and the cycle until all private insurers would go out of business and all americans find themselves on a single-payer government-run health care plan. so much for the option in the -- in the public option. so the fact is the government

1:46:52 to 1:47:12( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: plan would not be just a competitor, it would, in fact, act as a predator by calling the shots even as it takes the field the government plan would undercut the private market and create another monopoly. now, some people have described the so-called public option as a trojan horse.

1:47:13 to 1:47:34( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: i've used that phrase myself. but the person who actually devised the public option said this -- his name is jacob hacker, who is a professor at berkley. he put it this way last year. he said -- quote -- "someone said to me this is a trojan horse for a single payer.

1:47:35 to 1:47:56( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: and he said, well, it's not a trojan horse, right? it's just right there. professor hacker said, i'm telling you, we're going to get there over time slowly. the truth is, mr. president, we should not be creating another government plan when the ones we have now are not working very

1:47:57 to 1:48:19( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: well at all. robert samuelson wrote in today's "washington post" as well, he said, why would a plan tied to medicare -- to medicare control health care spending wh he noted that from 1990 until 2 -- excuse me 1970 until 2007

1:48:20 to 1:48:41( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: that medicare spending has risen by 9.2% annually. let me say that again. from 1970 to 2007 medicare spending has risen at 9.2% annually. he says, this is just one reason why the so-called publi option is what he called a mirage.

1:48:42 to 1:49:02( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: we know that our current entitlement programs have major unfunded liabilities. medicare has a $38 trillion unfunded liability and will effectively go bankrupt in 2017. yet this bill -- or at least the finance committee bill. i presume the bill coming out of

1:49:03 to 1:49:24( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: senator reid's offe will do the same -- takes $500 billion from medicare to create a new entitlement plan, a new government-run health care plan when medicare itself has $38 trillion in unfunded liabilities. it just doesn't seem to make any sense. medicade, which, of course,

1:49:25 to 1:49:45( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: primarily helps pay health care costs for the poor, reduces access to health care in many communities because reimbursement rates are so low that many providers simply can't take new patients. and as "60 minutes" reported just last night, fraud and abuse in government health care

1:49:46 to 1:50:06( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: programs costs taxpayers about $90 billion now, does this sound like a model we want to hold out, a new vernment-run plan when the ones that we have now are broken and need fixing? on the medicare fraud and abuse, according to f.b.i. special agent brian waterman, medicare

1:50:07 to 1:50:27( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: fraud is a bigger problem in south florida than the drug trade. he said there are entire groups and entire organizations of people that are dedicated to nothing but committing finding a better way to steal from medicare. one former federal judge looked at his medicare statement and found that someone had billed

1:50:28 to 1:50:48( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: the government for two artificial limbs on his behalf even though he still has the one also that god gave him. in other words, he didn't need any artificial limbs, but somebody charged them to medicare on his bill without his knowledge. i agree with our colleague, senator landrieu, from louisiana

1:50:49 to 1:51:09( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: that a government plan would just replicate the same kinds of problems that we've seen in medicare and medicade. as she said, why don't we fix the two public options that we have now instead of creating a new one? well, mr. president, supporters of a government plan say we need to have more competion and

1:51:10 to 1:51:31( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: give consumers more choice. i couldn't agree more, but this is not -- this is not the way to do it. competition occurs when we have more private insurance companies competing in marketplaces which would happen under some proposals made by our side of the aisle if we would simply create a system where

1:51:32 to 1:51:52( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: individuals could buy health insurance in any state across the nation and were not just confined to buying health insurance in their own state. competition increases when we get more insurance carriers to enter the market not by creating a government plan that will drive them out of it. now, we proposed ways, as i

1:51:53 to 1:52:13( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: said, to increase the number of private insurance options in every state. we think that if that's the goal, that certainly we ought to be able to come together in a bipartisan way toccomplish that goal. but i don't know why in the world we would settle for a health care proposal that would ultimately drive people to a

1:52:14 to 1:52:34( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: single-payer government-run health care plan that would raise taxes on the middle class, that would raise premiums on those who have depress wages of those who have cut, as i mentioned a moment ago $500 billion from a medicare

1:52:35 to 1:52:56( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: program that's scheduled to go bankrupt in 2017. why would we settle for something that will make things worse instead of better? for -- better for more than 100 million americans? why would we vote to spend $1 trillion or more on a new entitlement program without

1:52:57 to 1:53:17( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: fixing the ones that we have now? well, mr. president, it's not just me saying that this so-called public option with the opt out that the majority leader has now proposed, which he admits does not have 60 votes and the one republican, senator snowe, who said she would vote for the bill said that she wouldn't vote for a bill with a

1:53:18 to 1:53:38( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: public option. so i'm not sure why with one republican supporting the finance committee bill they now apparently have rejected senator snowe's support and opted for a strictly partisan proposal coming out of senator reid's conference room. but i also checked in the -- in

1:53:39 to 1:53:59( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: another health care expert i respect share. -- share my views with the public option. secretary mike levitt with the department of health and human services said that advocates for a public health plan continue to look for ways to get political cover to moderates while advancing the goal of

1:54:00 to 1:54:20( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: implementing a government-run health care plan. he said ultimately it will is designed to undercut private insurance. and he says it's dangerous for three reasons. he sd, one, it would be cheaper for employers to stop offering private coverage to their employees and to funnel their employees on to the

1:54:21 to 1:54:41( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: government-run plan. employers, not employees, wou get to make the choice. secondly, he said a government-run plan would use a coercive force ofovernment to dictate the prices that would be charged by by nurses and hospitals in a way that private entities cannot.

1:54:42 to 1:55:04( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: and, third, he said that this proposal is dangerous because a government-run plan would be subsidized by american taxpayers while private plans are not. in other words, he fact, states will be given a chance to opt out of the so-called public option, that they would not have a chance to opt out of the tax dollars that their taxpayers would spend in

1:55:05 to 1:55:25( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: order to subsidize the so-called public plan. so as he says -- as h concludes, he says the state opt in or opt out is a transparently false choice. it's just another gimmick to try to find votes for an unwise policy thatould increase the federal government's control over health care.

1:55:26 to 1:55:45( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: mr. president, we can do better. we must do better. and i would urge my colleagues not to take the bait on this so-called public option whether it has an opt out or not becau it is just ather disguised way to try to end up with a single-payer government-run health care system here out wa