By Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 2, 2012) — The Supreme Court’s disappointing decision on Obamacare makes one thing clear: Congress must act to repeal this misguided law. Obamacare will not only limit choices and increase health care costs for Kentucky families, it has also made it harder for businesses to hire.
The Supreme Court decision does nothing to diminish the fact that Obamacare’s mandates, tax hikes, and Medicare cuts should be repealed to clear the way for common-sense, step-by-step reforms that protect Americans’ access to the care they need, from the doctor they choose, at a lower cost.
The American people never wanted to be where we ended up today. Two and a half years ago, President Obama and liberals in Washington teamed up to force through legislation that we the people never asked for — even amidst an economic recession, a spiraling federal debt, and growing increases in government health spending.
We were promised lower health care costs. Instead, they’re going up. We were promised lower premiums. They’re going up. Most Americans were promised their taxes wouldn’t change. They’re going up, too.
Seniors were promised Medicare would be protected. It was raided to pay for a new entitlement instead. Americans were promised Obamacare would create jobs. But the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated it will lead to hundreds of thousands of fewer jobs. And Americans were promised they could keep their health care plan if they liked it. Yet millions have since learned they can’t under Obamacare.
And the president himself promised that the core of Obamacare — the requirement that every American purchase health insurance, or send a check to Uncle Sam — was somehow not a tax. Now the Supreme Court has spoken: The core element of Obamacare is a massive tax.
The damage Obamacare is doing to Kentucky isn’t just speculation — it’s reality.
Small businesses are seeing their health premiums go up more than they can afford to pay, threatening to put them out of business. Kentucky hospitals have been forced to lay off employees because Obamacare raided Medicare to pay for a massive new government program. And too many Kentucky businesses are hesitant to hire new employees until they know how much more Obamacare will force them to pay — the last thing we need at a time when unemployment in Kentucky is still above the national average.
There’s only one way to truly fix Obamacare, and that’s a full repeal that clears the way for common-sense, step-by-step reforms that protect Americans’ access to the care they need and the doctors they choose at a lower cost. And that’s precisely what I and other Republicans in Congress are committed to doing. The Supreme Court’s ruling does not mark the end of this debate. It is only the beginning of the journey on the road to repeal.
Add Comment