[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11196]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            OBAMACARE COSTS

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, the true cost of the Affordable Care Act is 
being revealed day by day. We knew from the beginning that the law was 
double counting more than $716 billion in cuts to Medicare to pay for 
the new entitlements. Another $115 billion in implementation costs were 
left off the books. Then we saw the $70 billion in projected revenues 
evaporate as the long-term care insurance plan was proven to be 
unsustainable and abandoned.
  Now the President is telling us he needs more than double the 
anticipated amount to pay out the law's subsidies. Could this be 
because the administration will use the honor system to determine 
eligibility for subsidies, with no verification procedures in passing 
out subsidies?
  Maybe we should use the honor system more often. We could trust that 
everyone paid their taxes. That would save us all money we spend on IRS 
agents.
  We could trust that industries aren't polluting. That would save a 
lot of money we spend on the EPA.
  Reagan used to say, ``Trust, but verify.'' The byword for this 
administration is ``Trust, and hope you aren't being defrauded.''

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