Senate Proceeding on Nov 5th, 2009 :: 0:09:35 to 0:15:25
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0:09:31 to 0:09:51( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: example for the rest of us in moving forward with this legislation that will be dramatic country, but for the world. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: mr. president,

0:09:35 to 0:15:25( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Mitch McConnell

0:09:52 to 0:10:12( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: the last two years haven't been easy ones for the american people. millions have lost jobs and homes. and many have had the bitter experience of watching years of savings disappear. unemployment stands at a 25-year high, and in many states it's worse than that.

0:10:13 to 0:10:34( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: just to take one example, in kentucky, unemployment rose in all 120 counties from june 2008 to june 2009. a lot of americans are hurting, mr. president. a lot of them have been struggling for a long time. and despite the occasional piece of good doesn't s

0:10:35 to 0:10:55( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: whole lot better for most people. this is the situation now and this was the situation when the white house announced its plan to undertake health care reform. throughout this debate, the need to do something about the economy has never been far from our minds. indeed, from the very outset of

0:10:56 to 0:11:16( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: has rested its case for reform on the need to do something about the economy. the economy was in bad shape, the argument went, health care would make it better. all of us agree that health care costs are unsustainably high, and alleviating t

0:11:17 to 0:11:38( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: those costs on american families and businesses is something we should work together to do. but somewhere along the way the administration simply got off track. the original purpose of reform was obscured. and now we're hearing from one independent analyst another that the bill which was

0:11:39 to 0:11:59( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: burdens will actually make these burdens worse. and the most significant finding is this: a reform that was meant to actually drive them up. americans are scratching their heads about all of this, and rightly so. business owners can't believe a

0:12:00 to 0:12:21( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: reform that was meant to help them survive will end up costing them more in higher taxes. seniors can't believe a bill that was meant to improve their care will lead to nearly $250 billion in cuts in medicare. and families can't they're going to have to pay higher health care premiums and taxes at a time when so many of

0:12:22 to 0:12:43( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: them are already struggling to make ends meet. hier cuts to medicare. these are three of the major blows this administration would deal t and any one of them uld be bad enough on its own, but let's just look at one of the

0:12:44 to 0:13:04( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: unexpected consequence of the democratic health care plan for a moment. let's look at the tax hikes. the senate bill we've seen targets individuals and bunesses with a raft taxes, fees and penalties. it imposes a 40% tax on high-value insurance plans for

0:13:05 to 0:13:26( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: individuals and families. it imposes billions in fees on health plans that will inevitably be passed along to consumers. it imposes fees on the costs of medical devices and lifesaving drugs, fees that would be paid by consumers. millions

0:13:27 to 0:13:48( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: chronic conditions and facing extraordinary medical expenses will be faced with even higher out-of-pocket costs because the bill makes deduct these expenses. and small businesses will as few as 50 employees -- as few as 50 employees -- would be required to buy insurance for all workers whether they could afford it or

0:13:49 to 0:14:09( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: not and pay a substantial tax for each of them. taken together, the health care plan we've seen would impose roughly $250 billion in new taxes, fees and penalties at a time when struggling to dig themselves out of this recession. what's worse, an independent

0:14:10 to 0:14:31( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: analysis by the joint committee on taxation suggests that nearly 80% of the burden -- 80% of this burden -- would fall on middle-class americans. so a reform that was meant to make life easier is now expected to make life harder. if you have insurance, you get taxed.

0:14:32 to 0:14:53( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: if you don't have insuran get taxed. if you're a struggling business owner who can't afford insurance for your employees, you get taxed. if you use medical devices, you get taxed. this is not the reform americans were asking for, mr. president. and that's precisely why more

0:14:54 to 0:15:14( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: americans care plan than support it. the administration didn't listen to the american pele when he put this plan toget when it can listen now and the message is -- it's going to hear is this: put away the plan to raise premiums, raise taxes and

0:15:15 to 0:15:25( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: cut medicare. get back to the drawing come up with a commonsense step by step set of reforms. that's what people want and