Congressman Tom Price (R-GA) issued the following statement in response to President Obama’s remarks on health care reform today.

“Today, the President told America, in terms never so clear, that he simply doesn’t care what the people think,” said Congressman Price. “Over the last year we have seen unprecedented level of public debate about the President’s plan, and the resounding conclusion America has come to is ‘no thank you.’ Yet, the wishes of the American people appear to be no obstacle to the President as he has endorsed the most partisan path possible to achieve his ideological goal. This is an abuse of power and an outrage to representative government which will not soon be forgotten.

“But even more than the broken process, the policies that the President seeks to ram through Congress represent an enormous threat to American patients. Despite his rhetoric, the President’s plan would give Washington bureaucrats control over personal health care decisions. President Obama’s claim that his plan is somehow bipartisan because he’s ‘open to’ a few minor Republican ideas is as cynical as it is absurd. You can’t tweak a disaster like this; you have to start over from scratch. The very foundation of his plan is a non-starter for the American people who overwhelmingly want the Democrats to scrap it and start over with a blank sheet of paper.

“That the President has chosen this path is terribly upsetting. It didn’t have to be this way, as Republicans have common sense ideas all year and demonstrated a genuine desire to positively reform the American health care system. Yet if the President is so intent on jamming the American people, Republicans will stand up to defend them.”