[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 143 (Wednesday, September 21, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S5913]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               OBAMACARE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, on another matter, my friend the 
Democratic leader has a favorite saying. He often says that the 
definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and 
expecting a different result. I am not sure his fellow Democrats got 
the memo.
  At a time when ObamaCare is raising health costs dramatically and 
chasing competition out of the health industry and collapsing on 
itself, Democrats just rolled out a brandnew health care idea to fix 
the problem that even they grudgingly admit is plaguing families. And 
what is their answer? More ObamaCare. No, this is not a joke. Democrats 
actually introduced legislation last week calling for ObamaCare 2.0, a 
new government-run health plan. It is not as if this is even a new 
idea. It is just a stale leftover from the health care debate back in 
2009, an idea many Democrats once deemed so bad that it was cut from 
the final ObamaCare bill, but now it is their Hail Mary.
  It is beyond tone deaf, and there are good reasons that so many in 
their own caucus will not support it. It is insulting to millions of 
Americans who continue to watch their premiums spike after Democrats 
said they would be lower. It is insulting to the millions of Americans 
who continue to watch their out-of-pocket costs shoot ever higher after 
Democrats said it would be affordable. I am sure Democrats will make 
plenty more promises to sell their latest bad idea; I am just not sure 
the American people are in a mood to listen anymore.
  Health care costs just rose last month by the largest amount in over 
three decades. Deductibles are outpacing wages, premiums are spiking by 
double digits just about everywhere and could even increase as much as 
60 percent in some places. This is ObamaCare's legacy. It is a direct 
attack on the middle class. It is ruining lives and making life even 
harder for those who struggle already.
  I have a message for our friends across the aisle: Remember what your 
leader likes to say about doing the same thing over and over. Stop 
denying reality, stop pretending this is somebody else's fault, own up 
to what you have done to the middle class, and then work with us to 
build a bridge away from it. ObamaCare is scary enough for America's 
middle class. The last thing Americans need now is some government-run 
sequel.

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