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Senate Proceeding on Nov 17th, 2009 :: 0:58:25 to 1:08:35
Total video length: 1 hours 32 minutes Stream Tools: Stream Overview | Edit Time

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John Thune

0:58:21 to 0:58:41( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: can before we act. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding office the senator from south dakota. mr. thune: much time is left on our the presiding officer: 9 minutes and 15 seconds. mr. thune: thank you, mr. president. i want to say to my colleague from nebraska, former governor and now senator from that state,

John Thune

0:58:25 to 1:08:35( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: John Thune

John Thune

0:58:42 to 0:59:03( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: am i one of the signatures on the letter that he has sent requesting that we get cost data before we move forward on this and what the impact is going to be? because that really is the issue. i've listened to some of the discussion that's occurred on the floor this morning. the senator from illinois was down here earlier, senator durbin, republicans are attacking the house bill.

John Thune

0:59:04 to 0:59:24( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: why are they attacking the house bill? why aren't they talking about the senate bill? well, it's very simple. there is no senate bill. it's being written behind closed doors. we've not been included in any of that. we've not been privy to any of the discussions that are occurring behind closed doors. and so when we come down here and talk about health care reform, we are confinedo

John Thune

0:59:25 to 0:59:45( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: talking about the house-passed bill because there isn't a senate bill. now, there are two senate versions that have passed senate committees. the finance committee's passed a bill. the health, education, labor and pensions committee passed a bill, but the merger of those bills i doors in direct contradiction of what was promised earlier about health care reform.

John Thune

0:59:46 to 1:00:06( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: president obama said when we do health care reform, it's going to be an open, transparent process. thamerican people are going to be able to observe this. in fact, it's going to be done on c-span. well, anything -- nothing could be further from the truth, mr. president, because it's all happening behind closed doors. and so when we come out here and talk about health care reform,

John Thune

1:00:07 to 1:00:28( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: we are left with talking about a house bill because t senate bill. now, we're told that this week we're going to see it, and i hope that's the case, because we would love to be able to react to the senate bill and we would love to know what it's going to cost and the american people would love to know what it's going to cost and they also would like to have some time to look at it before we start voting on it in the senate. my understanding is that this is

John Thune

1:00:29 to 1:00:49( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: going to be a compressed schedule. they are trying to get a vote this week on a with the bill, come back right after thanksgiving a try to rush this through the senate before the christmas holiday. a bill that represents 1/6 of the american economy. the house bill, 2,200 pages, 2,200 pages long, and the republicans were allowed one

John Thune

1:00:50 to 1:01:11( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: amendment, one amendment in the house. well, i think we're going to have to make sure here in the senate that this gets done right and that's going to take some time. mr. president, when the no child left behind legislation was debated in the senate, it took seven weeks on the floor here. we had an energy bill, a comprehensive energy bill a few years ago that took eight weeks on the floor of the senate. the farm bill that passed in the last session of congress took

John Thune

1:01:12 to 1:01:32( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: four weeks on the floor of the senate. we need to make sure that this gets done in the right way for the american people. and we don't even have a bill yet. and that's why we're down here talking about the bills that so far are out there. the senator from illinois said the main concern the american people he is cost, costs keep going up. i had a roundtable in my home

John Thune

1:01:33 to 1:01:54( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: state in sioux falls last week. the governor of my governor rounds participated, as did s owners. hi a restaurant owner. i had a retail pharmacy, a chain drugstore manager. i had a small business owner who manufactures wood products. they were all there, and they're all concerned about the same thing. they're all concerned about

John Thune

1:01:55 to 1:02:15( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: costs and how are we going to be able to provide good coverage to our employees, and what are we going to do if this massive expansion of the federal government, $3 trillion when it's fully implemented passes with all the costs that are going to be passed on to business, how are we going to be able to continue to cover our employees, and what is that going to mean for people across

John Thune

1:02:16 to 1:02:36( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: this country in terms of coverage d so i agree with the other side, with the senator from illinois who was up here earlier saying that cost is the issue, people care about costs. that's what i care about. that's what the people in my state of south dakota care about, is how do we get the costs for health car care coverage down in this country? well, the ironic thing about

John Thune

1:02:37 to 1:02:57( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: these bills so far that we've seen, none of them, none of them do anything to get costs down. all of them increase costs. and so the so-called curve that we talk about bending the cost curve down isn't happening under any of these bills. now, the senate bill because it's still being written behind

John Thune

1:02:58 to 1:03:19( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: closed doors, but the house-passed bill, the 2,200-page monstrosity that passed the house of repres senate bills that we've seen so far that have been produced by committees all have the same basic characteristicsbout them. the first is

John Thune

1:03:20 to 1:03:41( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: and they raised taxes substantially. contrary again and contrary to the contradictions made by president of people making less than $200,000 and people making less than $1,000. in fact, because of the individual mandate in the house-passed bill, people making $22,800 a year and up to to $68,400 a year are going to

John Thune

1:03:42 to 1:04:02( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: see a huge tax increase that's going to hit them. small businesses because of the pay or play mandate which supposedly under the house bill raises $135 billion are going to see their taxes so-called high-income earners, $50000 and above are going to see their taxes go up because there is going to be a surtax applied earners.

John Thune

1:04:03 to 1:04:24( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: the problem with that is it just doesn't hit high income earners. it hits small businesses who happen because of the way they're organized as sub chapter s corporations or l.l.c.'s to file on their individual tax returns, and the c.b.o. has said that one-third of the tax increases that are targeted at the so-called rich are going to hit small businesses, which are

John Thune

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

John Thune: the job creators in our economy. the engine of eco in america. three quarters of our jobs at least -- they say two-thirds or three quarters of jobs in this country are created by small businesses, and we're going to raise taxes on them. and in fact, the highest marginal income tax rate if this thing passes next year with the expiration of tax cuts that were

John Thune

1:04:46 to 1:05:07( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: enacted in 2001 and 2003 is going to go from 35% to 46.4%. that's the highest marginal income tax rate that we've seen in 25 years, and it's going to hit squarely small businesses that we're relying on to try to get us out of this recession and to create jobs. and so this thing is all financed with higher taxes

John Thune

1:05:08 to 1:05:28( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: financed with medicare cuts. the characteristics that are consistent with regard to all these proposals. you have got higher taxes. you have also got medicare cuts to the tune of half a trillion dollars a year which as my colleagues have already pointed out earlier this morning are really going to hit -- you know,

John Thune

1:05:29 to 1:05:49( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: not only providers but also seniors, medicare advantage program seniors who take see their benefits cut. so you have the individuals impacted, the providers impacted, and of course you have got most americans are going to be impacted in one way form or another by the tax increases. but the final point i want to make, mr. president, because it's the most important point, that is the other characteristic

John Thune

1:05:50 to 1:06:12( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: that these plans all have in common, in addition to higher taxe and medicare cuts is higher health care costs, premiums. the c.m.s. actuary that just came out last week with a report that described the bill says it is going to increase the cost of health care in this country by $289 billion.

John Thune

1:06:13 to 1:06:33( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: we spent about 17% of our g.d.p. today on health care under that bill that passed inhe house of representatives. that would go up to 21.1% if we did nothing we would be better off in terms of the costs that are going to be passed on to people in this country in the form of higher health care expenses. and so it's said very that we're going to see increased costs.

John Thune

1:06:34 to 1:06:54( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: it also said we're going to see the chief actuary concluded that 12 million people would lose their employer-sponsored coverage because smaller employers would be inclined to terminate coverage so their workers would qualify for heavily subsidized coverage through the exchange. now, the biggest number of people that are going to get covered under the bill are going to get covered because they are going to be pushed into medicaid which under this proposal does

John Thune

1:06:55 to 1:07:15( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: expand significantly the number of people who medicaid. the problem with that, of course, is that that passed on enormous costs to the you heard the governor -- former governor of nebraska talk about that, the former governor of tennessee, senator alexander, talk about that. my governor, governor rounds in south dakota last week said that we're going to be faced with with $134 million in increased

John Thune

1:07:16 to 1:07:38( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: costs to the states to pay for this because medicare is a partnership between the states and the federal government. and so your -- any we get, about 60% of the people who are going to get coverage because of this bill are going to get it through medicaid at an enormous additional cost to the stat which is going to be passed on to taxpayers in the individual states around this country.

John Thune

1:07:39 to 1:08:00( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: and so you've got higher taxes on small businesses, you've got higher taxes on individuals, you have got medicare cuts that are going to impact seniors providers, and the amazing thing about all this is you're going to have higher health care costs when it's all said and done. remarkable health care reform -- that anything could be callehealth

John Thune

1:08:01 to 1:08:21( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: care reform that raises costs in the way that these proposals would do. finally, i would say in response to what the other side has said that republicans don't have alternatives. wrong again. republicans have consistently supported and proposed step-by-step solution that is would do this and do it right so that it does drive of health care. interstate competion, allowing

John Thune

1:08:22 to 1:08:36( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: people to buy insurance across state lines, allowing people to join small business health plans that give them the advantage of group purchasing power and thereby drive down the cost of tort reform. the presiding officer: the senator's time has expired. mr. thune: we have a

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