July 10, 2012

The Broken Promises Continue -- It's a tax. Remarks By U.S. Representative Glenn 'GT' Thompson July 10, 2012 Prior to Congress, I spent nearly three decades as a professional in a non-profit healthcare setting. In healthcare there is a saying - do no harm. Unfortunately, this is a phrase Washington is unfamiliar with. The President promised that his plan would decrease annual premium rates for the average family -- they've increased. The law creates an employer mandate that provides a perverse incentive for companies to drop their employees from health plans. The law wastes money on so-called demonstration programs, in order to conceal the law's scheduled cuts to Medicare Advantage -- a blatant attempt to isolate the President from the political fallout from our nation's seniors in November. The Administration insisted that failure to comply with the individual mandate would not result in a tax— well, it's official. It's a tax. The American people are fed up. Why? Another check was written that could not be cashed. More promises were made that cannot be kept. Mr. Speaker, we must protect the American taxpayer. We must prevent this policy from doing more harm. We must repeal this law.