Deep Into Saturday Night's Health Care Vote
licent...@yahoo.com
Jillian Bandes
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu's vote in favor of Obamacare was
purchased for $300 million on Saturday, giving Democrats the 60-vote
supermajority that will, barring a miracle, pass health care reform
that will possibly include a public option and abortion coverage.
The $300 million comes from a 2-page earmark inserted into the bill
specifically for Louisiana, though the wording of the earmark didn't
specifically name Louisiana as the recipient. It simply designated
victims of national disasters within the last 7 years as eligible for
certain federal funds — and the only citizens who that applies to are
Katrina victims in Louisiana.
It's something Landrieu says they're entitled to.
"Our state is as poor as it was if not poorer, and I am not going to
be defensive about asking for help in this situation," she said on the
Senate floor.
Landrieu went as far as loudly correcting lower estimates on how much
the special earmark would bring her state. Early on Saturday, the
Congressional Budget Office said brought her $100 million, but in
fact, it was three times that.
“I’m proud to have asked for it and I’m proud to have fought for it
and I will continue to," Landrieu said on the Senate floor. In the
same breath, she insisted that the earmark was not why she was voting
for the bill.
"That is not the reason I am moving to debate," she said.
Landrieu was the second-to-last hold-out on the bill, the last being
Sen. Blanche Lincoln, who, like Landrieu, emphasized that she would
not vote for the bill if it contained some version of the public
option.
"I'm prepared to vote against moving to the next stage of
consideration as long as a public option is included," said Lincoln.
But Democratic leaders will undoubtedly massage the public option
provision to meet the requirements of these moderate Democrats, which
could mean that the the so-called "state opt-out" provision in the
public option will be included. If that's the case, the Congressional
Budget Office estimates that over a third of states will simply
decline to accept the public option, leaving less than 4 million
Americans covered by it. That's at a cost of almost $3 trillion,
according to some independent analysts.
There are several other noteworthy provisions that are included in
both bills and might be passed. First, "exchange marketplaces" will be
introduced, with the possible government option as one of the plans
Americans can pick from if they are self-employed, unemployed,
uninsured, or part of a small business. In the exchange marketplace,
the government will dictate what are acceptable standards for coverage
for all of the insurance plans.
Second, language in the Senate bill still enables the coverage of
abortion. Specifically, the bill states that within the exchange
marketplace, one plan must offer abortion coverage and another plan
must not. Analysts say that the inclusion of the much-heralded Stupak
Amendment, ostensibly preventing the coverage of abortion in any
forthcoming health care legislation, does nothing to reverse this.
Third, exactly how the bill will be paid for is still in question. The
Senate bill taxes gold-plated insurance companies, in addition to
raising Medicare taxes for individuals making over $200,000 and
couples making over $250,000. The House bill simply adds income taxes
on high-earning Americans. Other fees will probably imposed on
insurance carriers, medical devices, cosmetic surgery and prescription
drugs.
Copyright © 2009 Salem Web Network. All Rights Reserved.
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Mary Landrieu is a political whore and Harry Reid is
a political pimp.