Senate candidates respond

Here's your roundup on HC from the three major US Senate candidates (yes, I know there are others -- look, they're listed here!) -- Pat Toomey, Arlen Specter and Joe Sestak.

First up is Toomey:

“The Democrats are declaring today’s vote historic, and they are right,” Mr. Toomey said.  “For the first time in our history, one political party has used every trick in the book to force a brand new government entitlement program though Congress despite bipartisan opposition.  The extreme politics of one-party rule has succeeded in passing a bill that will raise the cost of health care for many Americans, impose billions of dollars in new tax increases, and give government unprecedented power over people’s health care decisions.  Today is not a cause for a celebration but a cause for concern about the state of our economy, our health care, and our political system.”

Specter:

“Tonight we are one important step closer to achieving meaningful health insurance reform which will bring down the costs of health care for American families and small businesses.  I commend my colleagues in the House for their efforts and I pledge to work for the bill's swift passage in the Senate so we can put an end to the insurance industry’s abusive practices and cover millions of individuals now not insured."

Sestak:

"The health care reform we passed today will put an end to insurance industry abuses, extend lifesaving care to millions, strengthen Medicare, and cut the national deficit.

"Health care is the most personal of any public policy. I know it is for me. I decided to run for Congress, after my 4-year-old daughter was diagnosed with brain cancer, with the conviction that all Americans should have access to the lifesaving medical care I was able to provide my family through my U.S. military health care. Today, we've taken a major step toward making that a reality.

"Nothing is more intimate or important than our health and the care we receive from our doctors. This reform will cut out the insurance bureaucrats and put life-and-death decisions back where they belong: in the hands of families and doctors. No longer will insurance companies be able to turn record profits by denying care to those who need it most, cutting your coverage the moment you get sick, or hiking your premiums year after year.

"If we had followed the Republican plan of inaction, in 30 years health care costs would have swallowed up a third our economy, driven small companies out of business, and bankrupted untold numbers of American families. By taking on one of the biggest challenges facing our nation, we're going to cut more than $130 billion from the deficit this decade, and another $1.2 trillion the next. And no longer will you have to pay for the uninsured out of your own pocket. This is a first, major step in tackling the deficit and creating a healthy country and a healthy economy.

"Today, we showed that good policy for the American people can triumph over Washington politics."