“The American people are going to suffer as a result of a few people in one room being very, very happy.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, in an interview with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) made the following remarks after the President signed the Democrats’ health care bill into law.
Interview excerpts:
How Americans will view the Democrats’ health care bill in the future:
“I think this is going to be bad for patients, it’s going to be bad for practitioners- our doctors and nurses and it’s going to be bad for… the taxpayers. Just as David Gregory talked about how the American people see this whole stimulus package negatively, I think they’re going to see it the same way with this health care proposal. Because what they’re going to see is that their own health care premiums, as a result of the President signing this, are going to go up. And their own taxes are going to go up and the quality of their care, Chris, is going to go down. That’s the concern and that’s why by two to one, people strongly oppose what’s been passed and now signed into law as opposed to those who favor the proposal.”
The Democrats’ bill fails to control costs and deliver care:
“There are absolutely people that need help. And 12 million more would have insurance today if they could just buy insurance across state lines. Now the president talks about coverage, but he doesn’t talk about care. They are cramming 16 million more people on to Medicaid, a program that has essentially failed to provide what people need because half of the doctors in the country won’t see them.”
“We need health care. We need more care for people. This bill doesn’t get to it at all and it sure doesn’t get the cost of care under control, which is what the President started with over a year ago talking about the reason to do this is to get the costs under control.”
Americans’ wishes versus the Democrats’ agenda:
“Thirty-four Democrats voted against it. Some of them were bullied. Some of them were bribed. Votes were bought. That’s why the American people are so offended by this. But this has been a long-term dream of Democrats… for decades, so this is their day, but the American people are going to suffer as a result of a few people in one room being very, very happy.
“This is something they truly believe and think is best because they believe they know better for the American people, than the American people know. That’s why the poll numbers and the people of the country have been so much against and opposed to what passed and what signed into law. Only one out of ten doctors supports this and every patient between now and election day who goes in to see the doctor in the doctor’s office is going to hear what the problems are with this bill that the President just signed into law and now, the reconciliation bill coming up, which to me, makes a bad bill even worse.”