Rich Galen via Patriot Post:
Here’s a new maxim: Nothing good ever happens when the Congress is in session on a Saturday night.
As you know, Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid (D-Nev) cajoled, coerced, and co-opted Senators Mary Landrieu (D-La) and Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark) into adding the 59th and 60th necessary votes to prevent a GOP filibuster of Reid’s health reform bill.
Reid and Obama Administration officials relied on the time honored method (used by Republicans and Democrats) of getting recalcitrant Members to vote a certain way: Bribery which, in the real world, is a felony but in Washington it is called ‘hardball.’
In Sen. Landrieu’s case the bribe was $300 million in Medicaid benefits to Louisiana. It’s not even a close call.
According to the website ‘Total Criminal Defense,’ ‘Bribery is an attempt to influence another person’s actions, usually a government or public official employee, by offering a benefit in exchange for the desired decision.’
Three hundred million in return for a vote to proceed. If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck… Landrieu is a better bribee than she is an accountant. She said in her floor speech that there was $100 million in the bill specifically to pay for Medicaid in Louisiana and only Louisiana. Talking to reporters afterward, she said, ‘I will correct something. It’s not $100 million, it’s $300 million, and I’m proud of it and will keep fighting for it.’
No reports, yet, on how angry White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel was when he found out she had been satisfied with the $100 million and he overpaid by a factor of three.” –political analyst Rich Galen
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