Line Up The Statements: Barack, Malloy, McMahon, Shays, SuBy, Himes, Dick

From the Obama campaign:

CHICAGO, IL – Obama for America Campaign Manager Jim Messina released the following statement in reaction to Romney’s remarks on the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act:

“Mitt Romney had an opportunity to rise to the occasion today and tell the American people specifically how he would move the nation forward on health care and ensure people get the care they need. Yet, once again, he squandered that opportunity. Instead of explaining how he would ensure costs don’t go up and health benefits are protected, Romney promised to repeal the President’s health reform law and take America back to the same old political battles of the past. He is completely unmoved by what that would do to millions of middle-class families, women, seniors and young Americans who are today benefiting from the law. Romney’s promise to repeal the law would give insurance companies free rein to exploit Americans through the worst industry abuses, strip 86 million Americans of often life-saving preventive care, cost 3.1 million young Americans of their coverage by kicking them off their parents’ plans, allow insurance companies to discriminate against kids with preexisting conditions, and increase prescription drug costs for seniors on Medicare.

Just six years ago, before Mitt Romney decided to run for president, he passed a law in Massachusetts that achieved universal coverage for the citizens of that state through an individual mandate and tax penalty. That law became the model for the President’s health reform law. Now, as he is running for president, Romney has run away from his accomplishment in Massachusetts, callously promising to repeal national reform and “kill it dead.” He owes the American people a clear, non-parsed explanation of why he believes his decisions in Massachusetts are wrong for the country, and exactly what he would do to help the American people get the health care they need.” – Jim Messina, Campaign Manager, Obama for America

From Governor Malloy:

HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Dannel P. Malloy and Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman released the following statement regarding the Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Health Care Act:

This is a tremendous day for all Americans. The Supreme Court has taken a historic stand with the Affordable Care Act—this decision demonstrates that the nation will do the right thing in ensuring accessible, affordable health care for all Americans. With SCOTUS validating the law, Republicans in Congress should cease their efforts to repeal the reforms and instead join President Obama in focusing on job creation. In Connecticut, we’ve been leading the way on this issue–we never stopped working, and today’s decision is an affirmation of everything we’ve worked so hard to prepare. Now let’s make sure we continue to implement this historic, positive change.

From Republican U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon:

Today’s decision by the High Court is extremely disappointing. The American people were told that this legislation would lower costs. It hasn’t. They were told that it would not increase taxes. It does.

“The tax increases that finance this will devastate small businesses and middle class families.

“Our choice this November is all the clearer. The majority of Americans oppose the President’s health care plan because it raises taxes on small businesses, cuts Medicare by $500 billion and increases costs. I opposed it because Connecticut small business owners have told me about the negative impact it has had on their ability to create jobs. But now the real work begins, and that’s why it is so important for Connecticut voters to send someone to Washington who will implement common-sense, market-based solutions that increase patient choice, control costs, and expand access to coverage for all Americans.

“I know what it’s like for the millions of Americans who lie awake at night worried about what they would do if, God forbid, something happened to a loved one and they couldn’t afford the medical care they need, because I’ve been there. When I found out I was pregnant with my son Shane, we didn’t have health insurance because we couldn’t afford it. As we reform our health care system, we should always remember those Americans, including many here in Connecticut, who every day face the uncertainty and fear of being without insurance or access to quality care.”

From Republican U.S. Senate candidate Chris Shays:

The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the constitutionality of the individual healthcare mandate just reaffirms the need to send someone to the United States Senate who has the ability to repeal this destructive law. Obamacare is the single greatest infringement on our individual liberties and personal freedoms that we have seen in my generation. This was a power grab of the U.S. health care system by Chris Murphy, a Democratic Congress and the Obama Administration.

The Supreme Court ruled that the President’s healthcare plan is constitutional based on the fact that the individual mandate is a tax, in spite of the fact that the Democrat-controlled Congress and the Administration repeatedly insisted it was not a tax. This hypocrisy is why Americans have a right to be fed up with Washington.

Obamacare is increasing health insurance premiums, reducing patient choice, threatening the quality of care, and impeding medical progress. On top of that, six years of Obamacare ‘benefits’ are paid for with ten years of taxes.

Obamacare takes $500 billion away from Medicare, a vital program for our senior citizens that was already heading for insolvency, and uses it for other purposes.

Now more than ever we need experienced leaders who can navigate the process so that we can repeal the President’s so-called “Affordable Healthcare Act.”

From Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Susan Bysiewicz:

Today’s ruling was a victory for families and ensures every American will get the care they need even if they can’t afford health insurance. The Affordable Care Act is the single largest step forward for health care in a generation. The law brings 30 million Americans into a health care system that provides preventative health services, lower health care costs, and no longer treats pregnancy as a pre-existing condition.

Despite today’s ruling it is clear that the effort to provide affordable and accessible health care to every American is far from over. Over the next few months Republicans will use every tool they have to take apart the Affordable Care Act. I will stand with the millions of American families and 300,000 Connecticut families who desperately need the quality and affordable care which is provided by this law.

 From Congressman Jim Himes:

“With this decision in place, people and businesses across the country can move forward with the certainty that they will have access to affordable health insurance. Would be entrepreneurs can now start their own businesses without fearing they won’t be able to purchase insurance for their families and employees, and recent graduates can take jobs at a startup or a nonprofit that doesn’t provide insurance–because they will be able to purchase it themselves. You will not lose access to health care if you lose your job, women can’t be charged more than men for coverage, and kids with asthma and moms who survived cancer will be able to get health insurance. We can now move forward with the Affordable Care Act’s reforms, which will lower costs, better coordinate our health care, and provide more financial stability for families and businesses that purchase health insurance.

“Because of health care reform, for the first time in over a decade, we saw a decrease in the growth of health care costs. I look forward to seeing continued progress as the remainder of the new law goes into effect and we tweak the law to continue to slow the growth of health care spending.”

From U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal:

The Supreme Court’s decision preserves vital patient protection rights and ensures access to more affordable, quality health care for millions of middle class families.

The Court put the letter of the law above politics. People will be protected against abuses like losing insurance when they get sick, or being denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition, and 23,000 young people in Connecticut and millions of other young people across the nation will continue to be covered on their parents’ policies until age 26.

Now the fight continues to preserve and expand these vital patient protections against an ongoing assault. Access to affordable, quality health coverage is a basic right; we cannot turn back the clock. We need to work together–Republicans and Democrats–to bring down costs of health care and move forward to make other improvements that build on the work that the Affordable Care Act began.

Connecticut is a clear winner–already, Connecticut has received tens of millions of dollars from the federal government to cover families on Medicaid, funds to combat fraud and waste, and grants to scrutinize unreasonable premiums. The decision also preserves the more than $44 million received by seniors to help with rising prescription drug costs, and the $45 million received by Connecticut’s community health centers to expand and modernize services.

Now that this legal issue is settled, our focus must be on jobs and our nation’s economic security.