WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding the numerous broken promises of Obamacare:

“One of the favorite pastimes of politicians in Washington is to talk about how frustrated the American people are with politicians in Washington. After the past few weeks, it’s easy to see why.
 
“I’m talking about the President’s promise — repeated dozens of times — that if you like your health care plan, you can keep it. And the sobering realization by millions of Americans that it just wasn’t true.

“Some of the top fact-checkers in the country have used terms like ‘Pants on Fire’ and ‘False’ and ‘Four Pinocchios’ to describe the claim that, under Obamacare, folks would be able to keep their plans.

“In a matter of weeks, it’s gone from being one of the law’s top selling points to a national punch line. And if millions of people weren’t so frustrated and upset by it, it might be funny. But it’s not the least bit funny.
 
“At this stage, about 50,000 folks are believed to have signed up for insurance on the federal exchange – way below Administration estimates – while at least 3.5 million Americans have lost their health coverage.
 
“In other words, about twice as many folks have lost their insurance in the state of Idaho alone since October 1st as have obtained health insurance across the entire federal exchange. So this is a real crisis.

“In my home state of Kentucky, over a quarter of a million people have lost private health care plans so far, and only about 7,000 Kentuckians have been able to obtain new private insurance under Obamacare.

“If you consider that Kentucky received more than $250 million in taxpayer funds to get Obamacare up and running, that works out to about $35,000 per private insurance enrollee. That’s before taxpayer subsidies.
 
“So we’ve thrown untold millions at this disastrous rollout and what do we have to show for it? Millions of people losing their coverage, despite assurances from the President that they’d be able to keep it — period.
 
“And let’s be very clear about something: these insurance cancellations are no accident.
 
“It’s the way the law was designed.

“Remember: in order for Obamacare to work, millions of Americans had to lose the coverage they’d purchased on their own, so the government could dump them into the Obamacare exchanges. That way, the government could then get them to pay more to subsidize coverage for everybody else.

“That 31-year old dentist from Louisville I mentioned last week — the one who isn’t married and has no kids but now has to carry pediatric dental care on his plan? Well, he’s one of the unfortunate ones who’s now subsidizing care for everybody else. And despite the fact that the President and the other supporters of this bill vowed up and down that folks like this would be able to keep the health care plans they had and liked…the fact is, that was never true. And they knew it.
 
“They knew folks would lose their coverage.
 
“Just as the President once famously predicted that utility rates would ‘necessarily skyrocket’ as a result of his cap and trade policy, so too would health care rates skyrocket under Obamacare. The only difference is that on health care, Democrats apparently knew they couldn’t tell people how it would all shake out in the end.
 
“But they knew. That’s why, in 2010, every Democrat who was in the Senate voted against a Republican proposal designed to hold the President to his word.

“The fact is, the President’s health care law was designed to capture millions of middle-class Americans, jack up their premiums, and use the extra cash to keep Obamacare afloat. This isn’t some unforeseen consequence of the law…it is the law. It’s working just like they designed it. Just like what they voted for.
 
“So it’s hard to take seriously the faux outrage we’ve seen of late from some of our Democrat friends.
 
“And as for the President, well, this should be no great revelation to him either. Just the other day, the media pointed out that the administration knew for years that Americans would lose coverage. But here’s something else: at a bipartisan Health Care Summit in 2010, the President was asked directly about this kind of thing by House Majority Leader Cantor. In reply, the President admitted that ‘8 to 9 million’ would have to change coverage …and then justified it on the grounds that they’d be getting better coverage from the government once they lost it.

“So the President actually admitted during that event that millions would lose their health care … and still went out on the campaign trail claiming Americans could keep the health care plans they had.
 
“This is why Americans feel so hurt by this particular broken promise. And what many of them want to know is this: Why would Washington Democrats persist with it even after it became clear it was false?
 
“I think the reasons are simple enough.
 
“One, they needed to pass the Obamacare bill; and two, they needed to sell it to a skeptical public.
 
“And neither would have been possible without it.
 
“If the President had gone out and told people that if he likes your plan, you get to keep it, it would never have passed. And that’s why the President’s so-called “apology” the other night rang so hollow for so many.
 
“Obamacare’s problems run so deep and the broken promises are so pervasive that it is impossible to identify an ‘easy fix’. It truly ought to be repealed or delayed. But if the President is truly sorry for breaking his promise to the American people, there is a natural place to start: He could support legislation that would help restore these plans to folks who want them back.
 
“And he can act on it as early as this Friday.
 
“That’s because the House is expected to send over a bill that would allow Americans to keep the plans they have and want to keep. There’s no reason the President and Senate Democrats should not join Republicans and the American people in supporting it.

“This doesn’t have to be a partisan battle. These cancellations haven’t discriminated based on party. The people out there who are frustrated and upset at losing their health care plans are Democrats and Republicans. The President can help all of them by backing the bill the House is expected to pass Friday.
 
“I think that’s basically what Bill Clinton was suggesting yesterday when he said the President should honor the commitment the government made to these folks, even if it means changing the law.
 
“I’ve had a lot of disagreements with Bill Clinton over the years. But at key moments he was willing to cross party lines. And I think here’s a moment where the American people are expecting President Obama to do the same. Allowing Americans to keep their health plans is a promise Democrats made over, and over, and over again.
 
“Whether or not they meant it, Democrats promised this much to the American people – and it’s their duty to make good on what they said. Once the House acts, my conference will be watching closely to see whether the Senate Democrat majority allows a vote and will help us send that bill to the President’s desk. So will the American people.
 
“So my message to the President is simple. Mr. President: our constituents are frustrated and they’re upset. You can help. Do the right thing.”