The Louisiana Bribe

**Amit** · 20th November 2009 07:20 AM

According to ABC News (ABC News!), the Hara kiri health bill includes a straight out $100 million bribe to Sen. Mary Landrieu in the form of extra federal aid to states hurt by natural disasters and really worded to mean simply "Louisiana".

Here's the link:

Not Fox, A-B-C News.

What does it take to get a wavering senator to vote for health care reform?

Hereâ€™s a case study.

On page 432 of the Reid bill, there is a section increasing federal Medicaid subsidies for â€œcertain states recovering from a major disaster.â€

The section spends two pages defining which â€œstatesâ€ would qualify, saying, among other things, that it would be states that â€œduring the preceding 7 fiscal yearsâ€ have been declared a â€œmajor disaster area.â€

I am told the section applies to exactly one state: Louisiana, the home of moderate Democrat Mary Landrieu, who has been playing hard to get on the health care bill.

In other words, the bill spends two pages describing would could be written with a single world: Louisiana. (This may also help explain why the bill is long.)

Senator Harry Reid, who drafted the bill, cannot pass it without the support of Louisianaâ€™s Mary Landrieu.

How much does it cost? According to the Congressional Budget Office: $100 million.

It's so cute when our rulers get even more corrupt than usual.

**nonsqtr** · 20th November 2009 07:27 AM

Yep. Ain't politics grand?

Ha ha - this is how it works, right? And, it's definitely a problem. This is the kinda thing that results in endless "pork" in all our various bills.

I'm not sure how to stop it though, 'cause this is exactly what politics is all about - bargaining, and using whatever advantages you have to get the results you want.

Can't say I blame Landrieu, her state got screwed pretty good in all that Katrina stuff.

Here's my thought: if we could somehow return to "one bill at a time", we could find a way to restrain this kind of thing.

But, our politicians are so busy, that they do most things by "omnibus" these days, which is why you end up with stuff like this in unrelated bills.

And, I also think, this is why many people have been clamoring for the line-item veto. But that's not the right way to solve this, the line-item veto is a Band-Aid, it addresses the symptom rather than the problem.

I'm not quite sure what to make of this. 100 million bucks is a drop in the bucket, relative to the 800 billion for healthcare, but still, it's a lot of money. And, I don't necessarily have a problem with that kind of money going to Katrina relief and reconstruction, but my take is, it won't be used for that - they'll find a way to use it for other purposes, and THAT is a problem.

**Blueneck** · 20th November 2009 07:33 AM

Great. I can't wait to see what the the other three are going to get for Christmas.

**Amit** · 20th November 2009 07:54 AM

Also to clarify this isn't one of those "this sucks because it's an Obama thing!!!". I think this is a "this sucks because this is how politics is thing!!!!"

**anonnymous** · 20th November 2009 09:54 AM

I think that people are coming around to understanding that this is how things have worked for far to long.

**Vortex** · 20th November 2009 10:02 AM

I'm just curious, does the bill exclude Mississippi or did the media forget that Mississippi is one of the states "that 'during the preceding 7 fiscal years' have been declared a 'major disaster area'"?

**Vortex** · 20th November 2009 10:05 AM

[quote name='anonnymous' date='20 November 2009 - 09:54 AM' timestamp='1258732484' post='63969']

I think that people are coming around to understanding that this is how things have worked for far to long.

[/quote]

Yes, this is how things work.

Damn that representative system! Landrieu is concerned about the citizens of her state and their health care needs, she wants those to be addressed in the health care bill.

Reid addresses them in this amended version.

How dare they worry about the needs of the citizens.

**anonnymous** · 20th November 2009 10:52 AM

[quote name='Vortex' date='20 November 2009 - 11:05 AM' timestamp='1258733109' post='63977']

Yes, this is how things work.

Damn that representative system! Landrieu is concerned about the citizens of her state and their health care needs, she wants those to be addressed in the health care bill.

Reid addresses them in this amended version.

How dare they worry about the needs of the citizens.

[/quote]

Yea, screw the citizens. That's it. It would go a long way into explaining why these disaster areas are still that.

Disaster Areas.

**Bluegrass** · 20th November 2009 10:56 AM

[quote name='PoliticalHotwire' date='20 November 2009 - 08:20 AM' timestamp='1258723234' post='63881']

According to ABC News (ABC News!), the Hara kiri health bill includes a straight out $100 million bribe to Sen. Mary Landrieu in the form of extra federal aid to states hurt by natural disasters and really worded to mean simply "Louisiana".

Here's the link:

Not Fox, A-B-C News.

It's so cute when our rulers get even more corrupt than usual.

[/quote]

Bribes are cute. The healthcare issue is indeed the new bargaining chip for bribes and whatnot. They are using the public's need for adequate and affordable healthcare for their own shady dealings.

**boontito** · 20th November 2009 11:03 AM

[quote name='PoliticalHotwire' date='20 November 2009 - 05:20 AM' timestamp='1258723234' post='63881']

According to ABC News (ABC News!), the Hara kiri health bill includes a straight out $100 million bribe to Sen. Mary Landrieu in the form of extra federal aid to states hurt by natural disasters and really worded to mean simply "Louisiana".

Here's the link:

Not Fox, A-B-C News.

It's so cute when our rulers get even more corrupt than usual.

[/quote]

Hey wait a minute... I've been told that the "mainstream media" looked the other way on this kind of stuff.