Ah yes… a new trend has begun. Other Senators are figuring out they toed the party line for too easy a price, and there’s at least three that have approached Sen. Ben Nelson… giving him a nod of thanks for his lead for sweetheart deals. Nelson has refused to identify the Senators by name, or by party.
Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, after securing a sweetheart deal for his state as part of the health insurance reform bill, said Tuesday that three other senators have told him they want to bargain for the same kind of special treatment.
“Three senators came up to me just now on the (Senate) floor, and said, ‘Now we understand what you did. We’ll be seeking this funding too’,” Nelson said.
~~~Nelson would not name the three senators he said told him they’re thinking of seeking the same kind of federal aid. He said he expected them to seek the money outside the health care reform process, and he defended their efforts.
“Why should states be forced to pay for a (federal) unfunded mandate?” he said.
Republican senators agree and have blasted Nelson for the apparent payoff.
The thought that crosses my mind… would Nelson be so quick to protect a GOP Senator?
There’s been no dearth of bad press accompanying Sen. Ben Nelson’s special treatment. It’s not only causing him to rethink it’s presence in the O’health care Senate bill – being acutely aware of the overt precedent he’s cultivated to new highs – but he’s now shifting the blame from Reid’s proverbial derriere for those special bennies to the NE Republican Governor, Dave Heineman.
Though he defended the exemption as a “fair deal,” he said he never asked for the full federal funding that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ended up granting his state. Nelson said he instead asked that states be allowed to refuse an expansion of Medicaid.
“This is the way Senate leadership chose to handle it. I never asked for 100 percent funding,” he said.
Nelson has maintained that the only reason he even brought up Medicaid was that Nebraska Republican Gov. Dave Heineman put him up to it.
After Nelson sent a letter to the governor offering to kill the Medicaid deal, Heineman acknowledged that he and other governors had “expressed concern” about the state burden for Medicaid patients. But he rejected any suggestion from Nelson that he asked for the kind of deal Reid struck.
“Under no circumstances did I have anything to do with Senator Nelson’s compromise,” the governor said in a written statement. “The responsibility for this special deal lies solely on the shoulders of Senator Ben Nelson.”
He urged Nelson to reconsider his support for the overall health care bill and, in response to the Sunday letter, said his state expects “a fair deal, not a special deal.”
“Governors all across America are troubled by this unfunded Medicaid mandate. If the U.S. Senate plans to address the unfunded mandates issue, all states must receive fair and equal treatment,” he wrote.
Nelson said Tuesday he wants to talk to the governor before making a decision on the Medicaid provision.
Nelson has been steadily backtracking on his payola actions, stating “It’s Not A Special Deal For Nebraska. … There Is No Carve Out” in his floor remarks today. But Reid’s “Manager’s Amendment for the State of Nebraska” tells a different story entirely…
“The Federal Medical Assistance Percentage … With Respect To All Or Any Portion Of A Fiscal Year That Begins On Or After January 1, 2017, For The State Of Nebraska … Shall Be Determined As Provided For Under Subsection (Y)(1)(A).” “Notwithstanding subsection (b) and paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection, the Federal medical assistance percentage otherwise determined under subsection (b) with respect to all or any portion of a fiscal year that begins on or after January 1, 2017, for the State of Nebraska, with respect to amounts expended for newly eligible individuals described in subclause (VIII) of section 1902(a)(10)(A)(i), shall be determined as provided for under subsection (y)(1)(A) (notwithstanding the period provided for in such paragraph).” (Manager’s Amendment To H.R. 3590, Pg. 98)
Vietnam era Navy wife, indy/conservative, and an official California escapee now residing as a red speck in the sea of Oregon blue.
Reid may have in his inimitable way screwed himself and raised the price of the vote on Christmas eve.
We all can find a quote or two or three — attributed to someone famous that coincides with our opinion. . .does not mean a notary stamp on our opinion.
However. . .Ronald Reagan once said
“Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards,
if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book.”
That said. . .I am looking forward to ex-Senator Ben Nelson’s 2011 book that could be entitled, “Let’s Make a Deal. . .or Not.”
Harry Reid’s house of corruption … It’s not a pretty sight in the sunlight.
this is something that is going to come back to bite the dems in the ass… reid gave sweetheart deals to a few senators that held out on the healthcare bill.. while the other dem senators towed the line for reid and the president.. no questions asked… they supported the bill no matter what was in it… and now… they are seeing.. hey .. if I hold out.. I can get a few hundred million to a billion dollars too… and now.. in future negotiations that the dems are going to make… how many senators do you think are going to hold legislation up to get themselves some of that payola? How do youthink the dems are going to do with future bills? how much is it going to cost the american people to pay off dems to get legislation passed… we have the cap and trade bill coming up… can you imagine how many dems are going to hold out and how much its going to cost the american people…
the dems really really really screwed themselves with these bribery sweetheart deals… this will put the dems in a whole new catagory of swindlers….
the dem party has really done some serious damage to themselves… very serious damage…
see ya
cathy : )
Does anyone know if these pork payola projects are included in the CBO’s budget analysis? Didn’t notice it in their letters to Reid.
@Mata.
Pork is not counted, because it isn’t specifically itemized within the Bill. (This is true, no matter the Bill). The only thing the CBO can “grade” is what Congress hands them, this means that in many cases ammendments are not counted either. Nor are they allowed to change nor “correct” projections of claimed economic values that will affect the end-cost.
Taken in total, this Bill will cost at least 3X what’s claimed, like all Bills that increase spending do.