from RI Statewide Coalition Newsletter
12/22/2009
Governor Carcieri today issued the following statement on the national healthcare legislation:
“It is absolutely disgraceful for the United States Senate to push through healthcare ‘reform’ that is filled with increased costs to states, increased taxes on America’s small business owners, and laden with special deals in exchange for votes,” said Governor Donald L. Carcieri of Rhode Island.
“What is even more unconscionable is that Rhode Island Senators Reed and Whitehouse voted to require Rhode Island taxpayers to fund the Medicaid programs in Massachusetts, Vermont, and Nebraska, not to mention picking up the cost of funding a teaching hospital in Connecticut. While Rhode Island is making difficult budget choices, Senators Reed and Whitehouse opted to vote to give special deals that benefit other states at our expense.”
“The federal government is being completely irresponsible. Entitlement programs are already bankrupting our country, threatening the future prosperity of our children and grandchildren. And what is the response of Congress? They cut nearly $500 billion from Medicare – cuts that will hurt Rhode Island senior citizens, and they use the money not to make the system sustainable, but to create another unaffordable program and buyoff Senators from other states.”
“Lastly, the federal government has had a longstanding policy against funding abortion. This bill would allow the federal government to subsidize private plans that cover abortion and mandate that private plans cover abortions. This is a serious issue. Whatever one believes about the underlying issues, the vast majority of Americans believe that taxpayers should not – directly or indirectly – cover elective abortions.”
“For months, the US Senate has dismissed the public’s concerns and questions, disregarded warnings from Republican and Democratic governors, and disavowed cost projections by the CBO and financial analysts. The passage of this legislation may prove to be the greatest affront to our democratic process and shows a complete lack of respect of taxpayers and for the principles this nation was built on.”
