Charlie Sykes: Sykes Writes

BUYING SENATORS

By Charlie Sykes

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One of the legacies of  today's votes is the institionalized bribery of paying off Democrat senators in return for a "yes" vote. Now we're just down to haggling over the price. Michelle Malkin has some details.

Here are the top five Demcare bribes. Keep an eye out on bribes/offers for Democrat Sens. Ben Nelson of Nebraska; Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas; and Evan Bayh of Indiana. Leave comments or e-mail any new info to add to the list.

Here we go:

1) MARY LANDRIEU AND LOUISIANA: $100 million via Jonathan Karl:

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.)

2) CALIFORNIA: $300 million, via LA Times:

Contained in the nearly 2,000-page House healthcare bill is a little-noticed provision — worth $300 million to California — that would increase federal Medicare payments to doctors in a wide swath of the state in response to complaints that low reimbursement rates have kept them from taking new patients.

3) AARP

a) Via Philip Klein: $18 million in stimulus money

b) The Medigap royalty/kickback scheme

4) THE ABORTION LOBBY, via LifeNews:

Two leading pro-life organizations that have analyzed the new 2,000-page government-run health care bill released by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid late yesterday say the legislation contains massive abortion funding and a fake amendment that does not truly ban it...

5) BIG LABOR

Via Houston Chronicle, Goodies for labor tucked away in health bill