http://action.afa.net/Blogs/BlogPost.aspx?id=2147490694At almost 80 years old, Thomas Jefferson foresaw the corruption of a federal government with too much power, when he wrote to William T. Barry in 1822, just a few years before his death: "If ever this vast country is brought under a single government, it will be one of the most extensive corruption
, indifferent and incapable of wholesome care over so wide of spread of surface." "Wholesome care" like health care?
I waited until after the New Year to write this column because Washington was hoping its Christmas corruption would evade the majority of holiday revelers or become old news to even political junkies and pundits who are now moving onto new issues. (This White House astutely understands and utilizes news cycles and calendars far better than any preceding presidencies.)
While you were with family and friends enjoying the holiday festivities, Congress and the president passed a $1 trillion omnibus bill with more than 5,000 earmarks (and covertly also loaded with far-left anti-family underpinnings). (Mr. Obama, what happened to your promise to eliminate all earmarks?)
The U.S. Senate also passed an $871 billion health care reform bill on Christmas Eve through shady, sweetheart backdoor deals. While you were cutting your Christmas spending because of the recession, Congress charged you and your children's national credit card with another $2 trillion plus.
For those who missed the bloated bureaucratic holiday news, President Obama exclaimed that congressional Democrats "scored a big victory for the American people," but, in fact, it was actually our senators who scored big time through political and personal payoffs. Even the New York Times blew a trumpet about them.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid passed out Christmas bonuses, what I call perpetual pork, gifts that keep on giving, unlike those familiar single hits at the public trough. He initiated a new frontier in pork-barrel politics. His corrupt and creative diversions included giving out Medicaid and Medicare credits like another round of pork projects. In 383 pages of changes to the 2,076 page Senate bill HR. 3590, there are dozens of these types of pork rind provisions for senators.
This health-care pork round all started with Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who bragged about receiving a $300 million increase in Medicaid funding for her state (what some are calling the second Louisiana Purchase), which turned out to be only $100 million. (Isn't that a relief?)
Then there was the now infamous Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., who gained his 15 minutes of yuletide fame when he sold out his critical 60th vote to pass Obamacare by accepting a governmental bribe that covers Nebraska's Medicare expansion costs to the tune of $100 million over the next 10 years.
With Obama having told the AARP back on July 28 that he considered Medicare Advantage an example of "wasteful spending," you could bet Obamacare would reflect his commentary. And in a statement released after the Senate health-care bill passed on Dec. 24, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., confessed his sweetheart deal made behind closed doors: "I was able to pass an amendment to the bill that excluded some 800,000 policyholders all across Florida from cuts to Medicare Advantage."
Topic: If the price is right (Read 1318 times)