Ever wonder how much it costs to buy a Senator?
$100 Million.
Here's a case study below.
If this fucking health care bill is "so great," why does it require bribing U.S. Senators to vote for it?
Clearly, because it's not so great.
True to form, the article below highlights the lengths they are willing to go to hide the truth. Two pages to describe Louisiana, without using the word Louisiana. Brilliant.
Believe Orin Hatch had the quote that sunk home with me:
"If you can't get 70 or 80 votes for a bill that impacts EVERY AMERICAN
and 1/6th of the U.S. Economy, IT'S A BAD BILL."
They must really think we're stupid.
A key vote is Saturday night. This allows the debate to open on the bill. Other votes will follow. This has to be stopped before it gets out of the Senate, because after conference, it's only 51 votes to pass it.
There are several key Senators who need to know that the AMERICAN PEOPLE DON'T SUPPORT THIS.
Here's who you need to call if you care about his:
SENATOR MARY LANDRIEU 202-224-5824
or fill out this form: http://landrieu.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm
SENATOR BLANCHE LINCOLN (202) 224-4843
or fill out this form: http://lincoln.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm
SENATOR BEN NELSON (202)224-6551
or fill out this form: http://bennelson.senate.gov/contact-me.cfm
SENATOR EVAN BAYH (202) 224-5623
or fill out this form: http://bayh.senate.gov/contact/
JOE LIEBERMAN (202) 224-4041
or fill out this form: http://lieberman.senate.gov/contact/...egarding=issue
When you call, you'll get their front desk. They count all the calls and report totals to their bosses - this is one of the ways they take the pulse...it adds much needed pressure.
This is a form of voting. Do your part. Make the calls.
_____________________________
ABC News
Jonathan Karl reports:
What does it take to get a wavering senator to vote for health care reform?
Here’s a case study.
On page 432 of the Reid bill, there is a section increasing federal Medicaid subsidies for “certain states recovering from a major disaster.”
The section spends two pages defining which “states” would qualify, saying, among other things, that it would be states that “during the preceding 7 fiscal years” have been declared a “major disaster area.”
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 Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu.
How much does it cost? According to the Congressional Budget Office: $100 million.
Here’s the incredibly complicated language:
SEC. 2006. SPECIAL ADJUSTMENT TO FMAP DETERMINATION FOR CERTAIN STATES RECOVERING FROM A MAJOR DISASTER.
Section 1905 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396d), as amended by sections 2001(a)(3) and
2001(b)(2), is amended— (1) in subsection (b), in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘subsection (y)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (y) and (aa)’’; and (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
‘‘(aa)(1) Notwithstanding subsection (b), beginning January 1, 2011, the Federal medical assistance percentage for a fiscal year for a disaster-recovery FMAP adjustment State shall be equal to the following:
‘(A) In the case of the first fiscal year (or part of a fiscal year) for which this subsection applies to the State, the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the fiscal year without regard to this subsection and subsection (y), increased by 50 percent of the number of percentage points by which the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the State for the fiscal year without regard to this subsection and subsection (y), is less than the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the State for the preceding fiscal year after the application of only subsection (a) of section 5001 of Public Law 111–5 (if applicable to the preceding fiscal year) and without regard to this subsection, subsection (y), and subsections (b) and (c) of section 5001 of Public Law 111–5.
‘‘(B) In the case of the second or any succeeding fiscal year for which this subsection applies to the State, the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the preceding fiscal year under this subsection for the State, increased by 25 percent of the number of percentage points by which the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the State for the fiscal year without regard to this subsection and subsection (y), is less than the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the State for the preceding fiscal year under this subsection.
‘‘(2) In this subsection,
the term ‘disaster-recovery FMAP adjustment State’ means a State that is one of
the 50 States or the District of Columbia, for which, at any time during the preceding 7 fiscal years, the President has declared a major disaster under section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act and determined as a result of such disaster that every county or parish in the State warrant individual and public assistance or public assistance from the Federal Government under such Act and for which— ‘‘(A) in the case of the first fiscal year (or part of a fiscal year) for which this subsection applies to the State, the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the State for the fiscal year without regard to this subsection and subsection (y), is less than the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the State for the preceding fiscal year after the application of only subsection (a) of section 5001 of Public Law 111–5 (if applicable to the preceding fiscal year) and without regard to this subsection, subsection (y), and subsections (b) and (c) of section 5001 of Public Law 111–5, by at least 3 percentage points; and ‘‘(B) in the case of the second or any succeeding fiscal year for which this subsection applies to the State, the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the State for the fiscal year without regard to this subsection and subsection (y), is less than the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the State for the preceding fiscal year under this subsection by at least 3 percentage points.
‘‘(3) The Federal medical assistance percentage determined for a disaster-recovery FMAP adjustment State under paragraph (1) shall apply for purposes of this title (other than with respect to disproportionate share hospital payments described in section 1923 and payments under this title that are based on the enhanced FMAP described in 2105(b)) and shall not apply with respect to payments under title IV (other than under part E of title IV) or payments under title XXI.’’.
SOURCE:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/200...care-vote.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/vcCan...5AH64O20091119
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