Why do I pronounce that? Because for both Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid to get the necessary votes in the House of Representatives and Senate, bribes of unimaginable magnitude were offered and democratic party senators, engorged by their own lusts for power, accepted. The bribes offered immediately didn't individually benefit the taker, but their states. (However, as one Washington insider observed, these kinds of bribes have a way of ultimately enriching the individual.) So Nebraska will receive special Medicaid federal aid under the proposed Senate health care law, to the tune of $100 Million over 10 years. This is federal tax dollars from every American citizen going to Nebraska, while the rest of the nation has their Medicaid and Medicare program aid slashed. But that's not the only bribe offered and taken:
-- Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., won between $100 million and $300 million in additional federal aid for her state's Medicaid population. The deal, secured before she cast her critical vote in favor of bringing the health bill to the floor, was immediately dubbed the "Louisiana Purchase," though the actual Louisiana Purchase was considerably cheaper.
-- Vermont and Massachusetts got $1.2 billion in Medicaid money -- a change that was described as a correction to the current system which exempts those two states because they have robust health care systems. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders also boasted Saturday that he requested and won an investment worth between $10 and $14 billion for community health centers.
-- Western states secured higher federal reimbursement rates for doctors and hospitals that serve Medicare patients. The provision covers the low-population "frontier" states and applies to Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming -- the latter two states are both represented by two Republicans, but ended up as beneficiaries anyway since they qualify. The legislative language defines frontier states as states where at least 50 percent of the counties have fewer than six people per square mile. Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, defended the "special deal," telling "Fox News Sunday" that those five states were getting an increase in reimbursements because they get the lowest amount in the country. "That doesn't offend me at all," he said. "It's in fact, fair."
-- Florida, New York and Pennsylvania -- where five of six senators are Democrats -- will have their seniors' Medicare Advantage benefits protected, even as the program sees massive cuts elsewhere.
-- Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., reportedly secured expanded Medicare coverage for victims of asbestos exposure in a mine in Libby, Mont.
-- Connecticut is receiving $100 million for a "health care facility" affiliated with an academic health center at a university that contains the state's only "public academic medical and dental school."
-- Nebraska's Nelson won permanent federal aid for his state's expanded Medicaid population, a benefit worth up to $100 million over 10 years. Other states get the federal aid for three years, but Nebraska's benefit is indefinite. His state also got an exemption for nonprofit insurance companies from a health insurance company tax. Many believe this was targeted at Mutual of Omaha, but senior Democratic aides would not confirm that.
Updated December 21, 2009 The Price Is Right? Payoffs for Senators Typical in Health Care Bill. Trish Turner of FOXNews.com
Thus in a desperate attempt to garner the votes of Senators who had significant reservations about certain provisions of the proposed bill, the Senate Leader stooped to bribing gullible and power hungry senators. Almost as bad was the after comments regarding the blatant bribery:
But Senate Democrats said the payoffs are nothing unusual, and in fact typical.
"People fight for their own states. That's the nature of a democracy," Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said on "Fox News Sunday," defending Nelson against withering attacks from the GOP.
"This is just part of the normal legislative process," said Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Updated December 21, 2009 The Price Is Right? Payoffs for Senators Typical in Health Care Bill. Trish Turner of FOXNews.com
No Senator Klobuchar, bribes of this magnitude is the nature of a corrupt, tyrannical, and evil government. Congratulations Democrats, you've managed to kill off democracy. Let's pray Americans will resurrect it on November 2, 2010.
[Note The Watchman is traveling so posts will be irregular at best. But he'll still be working on future posts regarding Health Care and other significant events.]
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