Sen. McConnell Issues Floor Remarks on Healthcare System

WASHINGTON, March 12 -- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, issued the following floor remarks regarding a bill from House Democrats that would force all Americans into a government-run healthcare system:

"Here's a quote: 'I think the $33 trillion price tag for 'Medicare for all' is a little scary.' That came from a Democratic member of Congress who happens to sit in a leadership role. She sounds worried, and I don't blame her. The new House Democrat majority has wasted no time rolling out one half-baked, socialist proposal after another. Apparently the remarkable job growth, wage growth, and new opportunities pouring into communities across America have failed to persuade my Democratic friends of a simple reality: That things go pretty well when government gets its foot off the brake and lets American families live their lives without oppressive supervision from Washington Democrats.

"Apparently that's just inconceivable. Because the outlandish, government-driven proposals to take over one economic sector after another continue to roll in. We've all heard about that 'Green New Deal.' The far left's master plan to hurt American energy independence, disrupt millions of workers' livelihoods and put entire industries out of business, and let Washington regulators redesign every building in America -- while letting China and other countries off the hook. Just for starters. And we've all heard about the price tag, as estimated by the one research outfit that's actually taken a shot at hanging some numbers on all the vague, pie-in-the-sky language: They calculated the total could exceed $90 trillion.

"But let's not lose sight of the other party-defining socialist pivot that many Democrats are rushing to embrace: 'Medicare for None.' Yes -- Democrats have taken the pulse of the American people, and here is what they've decided: They've decided that American seniors want their Medicare hollowed out until the only thing left is the name. They've decided that middle-class families are eager to be kicked off their health insurance plans and forced into a one-size-fits-all government alternative. And they've decided that taxpayers up and down the income scale are clamoring to send much more of their money to the IRS.

"No choices. No options. No alternatives. No more Medicare as we know it. Every single American has to obediently take a seat and buckle up for the Democrats' wild ride toward government-run health insurance. The sequel to Obamacare and its soaring premiums is coming soon to a Democratic press conference near you. And this time, they want to turn the entire system over to those bureaucrats and make it unlawful to possess competing private coverage. That sends quite a message, doesn't it? My colleagues are so confident American families will love their new government-mandated health plan that they feel compelled to outlaw the competition.

"So it's already been quite an experience watching liberal leaders grapple publicly with the question of whether, in fact, their movement is seriously going to double down on these socialist policies. Michael Bloomberg said this sort of proposal, quote, 'would bankrupt us for a very long time.' Speaker Pelosi herself had to wonder publicly, 'How do you pay for that?' Well, if you're Vermont, or Colorado -- two places that have flirted with the idea of single-payer healthcare -- there's a simple answer: you don't pay for it. Because you can't.

"In 2014, when Vermont grappled with a proposal to implement a state-run single-payer system, the governor's office was forced to conclude from its own analysis that the cost of the program would nearly double state spending in its first year of implementation and could lead to hundred-million-dollar deficits within five years. In 2016, Colorado Democrats put forward a ballot measure to pursue this in their state. Once again, the program's costs were projected to exceed the entire state's budget. So voters rejected it -- 80% of them, to be exact.

"Those are just two states. But this is exactly the kind of broken mathematics that Democrats are now hoping to force on the entire nation. An estimated $32 trillion over the first ten years -- at least. That's more than the government has laid out in the past eight years, combined, on everything. Now I'm sure we will be advertised the same, old, left-wing talking points about millionaires and billionaires magically paying for all of it. But as I've noted before, it's just not possible. There aren't enough millionaires and billionaires in the entire country to pay the tens of trillions this takeover would require.

"Even if the IRS seized every cent Americans earned beyond $1 million, it wouldn't even cover half the hole this proposal would leave in the treasury. That's why one economist wrote, quote: 'The simple fact is that Medicare-for-all would require a dramatic shift in the federal tax structure and a substantial tax increase for almost all Americans.' Almost all Americans. Even leading Democrats can't help but laugh at this stuff. This was Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York, describing this idea in the context of his own state: 'No sane person will pass it... you'd double everybody's taxes. You want to do that?'

"So parts of the Democratic Party here in Congress are running towards a policy that even the stalwart liberal Governor of New York derides as out-of-this-world expensive and impractical. No wonder some Democrats are worried about the radical rumblings within their party. Fortunately, the American people don't have to worry a bit, at least for now. This craziness will never get through this United States Senate."