[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 12, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1769-S1770]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Medicare for All

  On a final matter, here is 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 Democratic majority has wasted no time--no time at 
all--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: 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 is just inconceivable, because 
the outlandish, government-driven proposals to take over one economic 
sector after another continue to roll in.
  We have all heard about the Green New Deal--the far left's master 
plan to hurt American energy independence, disrupt millions of workers' 
livelihoods, put entire industries out of business, and let Washington 
regulators redesign every building in America, while letting China and 
other countries off the hook. That is just for starters. We have all 
heard about the price tag as estimated by the one research outfit that 
has 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 
many Democrats are rushing to embrace: Medicare for None. Yes, 
Democrats

[[Page S1770]]

have taken the pulse of the American people, and here is what they have 
decided: They have decided that American seniors want their Medicare 
hollowed out until the only thing left is the name. They have decided 
that middle-class families are eager--eager--to be kicked off their 
health insurance plans and forced into a one-size-fits-all government 
alternative. Oh, and they have decided that taxpayers up and down the 
income scale are clamoring--just 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. This time, they want to turn the 
entire system over to those bureaucrats and make it unlawful--
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 healthcare plan that they feel 
compelled to outlaw any competition.
  It has 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 ``would bankrupt us for 
a very long time.'' Speaker Pelosi herself had to wonder publicly, 
``How do you pay for that?'' Well, if you are Vermont or Colorado--two 
places that have flirted with the idea of single-payer healthcare--
there is 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 
$100 million deficits within 5 years. That was in Vermont.
  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. In Colorado, 
80 percent of them rejected it, 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 our entire 
country--an estimated $32 trillion over the first 10 years, at least. 
That is more than the government has laid out in the last 8 years, 
combined, on everything--on everything.
  I am sure we will be advertised the same old leftwing talking points 
about millionaires and billionaires magically paying for all of it. How 
often have we heard that? As I have noted before, it is just not 
possible. There are not enough millionaires and billionaires in the 
entire country to pay the tens of trillions of dollars this takeover 
would require. Even if the IRS seized every cent Americans earned 
beyond $1 million--all of it, took all their money--it wouldn't even 
cover half the hole this proposal would leave in the Treasury. That is 
why one economist wrote that ``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. This is what the Democratic Governor of New York 
said:

       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 
not for now. This craziness will never get through the U.S. Senate.
  Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.