Thread: Bribery in Congress

The DA needs to do some prosecuting over this.

- Big Government - http://biggovernment.com -

SOLD: Sen. Nelson’s Bribe



We’ll be blunt. The ‘health care reform’ legislation under consideration in the Senate is the most corrupt piece of legislation in our nation’s history. Yes, we understand that is a strong statement and there have been other abominations throughout our nation’s life. But never before did corrupt legislation threaten to radically and forever change the live’s of every American.

senator-ben-nelson

Exhibit A is the outright bribe extracted by Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Corn Huckster State) from Sen. Harry Reid. As a result of Nelson’s performance in his role of Hamlet in the health care deliberations, we will have two health care systems in this country; one for Nebraska and one for the other 49 states.

In its quixotic attempt to ensure everyone has health insurance, the Reid legislation greatly expands Medicaid eligibility. Because Medicaid is a program whose costs are split between the federal and state governments, this expansion in eligibility raise costs dramatically for states. States will be forced to either raise taxes or cut other services to accommodate the forced increase in Medicaid spending.

Unless that state is Nebraska.

Below is the text for Nelson’s bribe. Under this language the federal government will forever cover the costs of Medicaid expansion in Nebraska. Taxpayers in every other state will forever be responsible for the expanded Medicaid program in Nebraska.

image001 Outrageous doesn’t do justice to describe this situation. Sen. Nelson also secured an exemption [1] from a new insurance tax for non-profit companies in his state. Mutual of Omaha and Nebraska’s Blue Cross/Blue Shield won’t have to pay a tax other companies will be required to pay.

There is next to nothing honest about the entire health care debate anymore. The current legislative text was released just hours ago. The first votes are expected within hours. The health care sector accounts for 1/7th of our economy. And the “World’s Greatest Deliberative Body” will have just hours to consider its radical transformation. However much they say the legislation will cost, don’t believe it. Rarely has a bill been so manipulated to hide its true cost.

Consider this from the most recent CBO estimate [2] of the cost of the legislation:

These longer-term calculations assume that the provisions are enacted and remain unchanged throughout the next two decades, which is often not the case for major legislation. For example, the sustainable growth rate (SGR) mechanism governing Medicare’s payments to physicians has frequently been modified (either through legislation or administrative action) to avoid reductions in those payments, and legislation to do so again is currently under consideration in the Congress.

And this,

The legislation would maintain and put into effect a number of procedures that might be difficult to sustain over a long period of time. Under current law and under the proposal, payment rates for physicians’ services in Medicare would be reduced by about 21 percent in 2010 and then decline further in subsequent years.

(Hey, American Medical Association, how’s that endorsement of this bill working for you?)

And, this gem:

It is unclear whether such a reduction in the growth rate could be achieved, and if so, whether it would be accomplished through greater efficiencies in the delivery of health care or would reduce access to care or diminish the quality of care.

Soon, 60 Senators will vote for this.

[3]

Article printed from Big Government: http://biggovernment.com

URL to article: http://biggovernment.com/2009/12/19/sen-nelsons-bribe/

URLs in this post:

[1] also secured an exemption: http://www.politico.com/livepulse/

[2] most recent CBO estimate: http://cboblog.cbo.gov/?p=446

[3] Image: #



Copyright © 2009 Big Government. All rights reserved.

Here is another source....

Justice needs to be served here..... This is worse than Enron.

logo
Published on NewsBusters.org (http://newsbusters.org)
BREAKING: Nelson To Vote For Healthcare In Exchange For Medicaid Payments To Nebraska
By Noel Sheppard
Created 2009-12-19 11:04

Not that this will come as any great shock, but Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), the lone Democrat holdout against the current iteration of healthcare reform, announced Saturday he will vote for the bill.

Also unsurprising: much like Mary "Louisiana Purchase" Landrieu (D-La.) before him, Nelson sold his vote and his very soul for some financial benefits to his state.

As Politico reported [1] moments ago:

Sen. Mary Landrieu got the "Louisiana Purchase." Sen. Ben Nelson got the federal government to pick up most his state's future Medicaid tab -- forever.

As part of the deal to win Nelson's support, the federal government will fund Nebraska's new Medicaid recipients. It's a provision worth about $45 million over the first decade. [...]

Medicaid is usually paid for with a mix of federal and state funding, but Nelson's carve out means that any Medicaid beneficiaries who join the program after the bill passes will be funded by the federal government.

It's a sweet deal considering that many governors are worried that the Medicaid expansion will further strain already stressed state budgets.

Great. So states with fiscal problems of their own get their budgets squeezed as a result of this bill, but the man that history will show cast the deciding vote gets his state off the hook!

Amazing!

Beyond this, tax dollars went to bribe two key Democrats so that a bill will be passed that will raise our taxes further!

Absolutely amazing!

Is this what Hope and Change meant?

Exit question: If we now disaffectionately refer to Louisiana's Democrat Senator as Mary "Louisiana Purchase" Landrieu, what should we call Nelson for his historic sellout?

I've already heard Ben "Cornhusker Kickback" Nelson, but think that lacks punch.

Any other suggestions?


Source URL:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sh...icaid-payments

Links:
[1] http://www.politico.com/livepulse/12...caid_deal.html

I bet that if more people knew about this, they wouldn't be too happy with their senators for supporting this....

Everybody that was involved, needs to be prosecuted and removed from government.

No excuses.

Originally Posted by ems_goof

How about the fact a Senator is actually doing his job, and working to get the best for his constituents? Sorry the other Senators were too stupid to not think of this. (And no, I'm not from Nebraska). Congress is a group of people representing the populous across the nation, and it's their duty to look after the interests of those they represent.
However, if we didn't have lawyers, and people would stop with the partisan BS, I'm sure the country would run much more smoothly. A 1000 page document is 1 page of information surrounded by 999 pages of legal BS.

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You think this is something new Commander?

Originally Posted by Toker

Originally Posted by ems_goof

How about the fact a Senator is actually doing his job, and working to get the best for his constituents? Sorry the other Senators were too stupid to not think of this. (And no, I'm not from Nebraska). Congress is a group of people representing the populous across the nation, and it's their duty to look after the interests of those they represent.
However, if we didn't have lawyers, and people would stop with the partisan BS, I'm sure the country would run much more smoothly. A 1000 page document is 1 page of information surrounded by 999 pages of legal BS.

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You think this is something new Commander?

Show me another OUTRIGHT BRIBE in a bill to be voted into law.....