Dems Desperate for 60 Votes on Healthcare Resort to Payoffs for Their Colleagues
Posted on 22. Dec, 2009 by James Devere in American Politics
Senate Corruption stands to reduce Healthcare to a bad joke. Unfortunately, it is a $2 Trillion joke on tax payers.
(Sun. December 20, 2009) Selling votes says one thing about the moral compass of Senators like Landrieu and Nelson. But what does it say about Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the Administration, who are the parties buying votes with taxpayer money? Nelson, Landrieu, and others yet to be announced, recently acquiesced to vote with their party after receiving payouts to their states and their special interests. For Landrieu and Louisiana, the payday will result in an extra $300 million; the total for Nelson and Nebraska is still being calculated.
A Senate leadership that long ago gave up all pretence of bi-partisanship has now resorted to nothing less than bribery to secure votes on a bill that some of its own members are reluctant to support. And why not? They aren’t using their own money for bribes; they are using ours. Results of the “negotiations,” as the under the table dealings are called in Washington, culminated in 2700 pages of legislation having little to do with healthcare. The last couple of weeks have added $22 billion in spending and $25 billion in new taxes.
So what is in the 2700 pages? Even the Congressional Budget Office is confused, to the point that they have now added some corrections to their original estimates (read CBO Corrections). Also from the CBO report: if all conditions are not met, there is a error factor that could add $500 billion to the cost of healthcare.
We have gone from a bad bill to a bill that is so corrupt, complicated, and exclusionary, that is has no chance of making a contribution cost reduction. In fact, the bill can only stand to make healthcare more expensive, and reduce quality of care. Health insurance companies have seen their stocks increase approximately 10% during the last few weeks of Senate negotiations. Monday morning at 1AM, a vote will be taken to pass healthcare; fittingly Harry Reid has chosen such an hour to become a thief in the night.
Below are comments by republicans on the corruption of our legislative process.
Senate Republicans news conference on 1AM healthcare vote.
