Watching Senate Democrats peddling their votes, themselves and this nation in the name of so-called health care reform most Americans do not want is enough to make a buzzard retch.
The sleaziness is only compounded by their pretending they are doing us a favor; that they are saving us; that they will reduce our staggering deficit. They fail to mention that the law would not go into effect until 2014, but its taxes -- truckloads of them -- crank up immediately.
A $100 million payoff here for a "yes" vote on the $1.5 trillion boondoggle; a $300 million bribe there. This bill is more than 2,000 pages -- and likely unread by any senator before the vote. Add to that 383 pages of changes adding even more pork and bribes for votes. Despite the arrogant vulgarity of it all, Democrats are unrepentant.
"That's what this legislation's all about -- it's the art of compromise," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, architect of the payoffs.
Compromise? A 60-39 vote with nary a single Republican idea or vote added to the Senate's final product? Buying votes? Payoffs in the night? Withholding the bill from scrutiny? That's Reid's idea of compromise? It's more like an unconstitutional mugging of the American taxpayer.
It is difficult to know which Democratic senator gets the "The Biggest Schlump" award in all this. Our very own Mark Begich? Nah, he got zip, nada, nothing of note for his vote. The one-termer went along because he wanted to get off the porch and run with the big dogs.
Of the actual players, there is, of course, Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson, whose support gave Reid his 60th and final vote to ignore the majority of Americans who oppose the measure. (Even in Nelson's home state more than 60 percent of the voters reject the bill.) His payment? Among other goodies, Nelson won an agreement from the federal government to underwrite future expanded Medicaid services in Nebraska. Forever. That means 49 other states were left holding the bag to the tune of $45 million in the first 10 years. Sen. John McCain dubbed it the "Cornhusker Kickback." Imagine the tab when the other states in a few years demand their share be picked up too.
Or should the award go to that world-class grifter, Connecticut Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd? He wrote his own ticket, a $100 million payoff, right into the legislation. It is to underwrite 40 percent of the construction of a university hospital. Oh, other senators can grab for the dough, but the fix is in.
You remember Dodd, right? Fannie Mae? Friendly loans from Countrywide Financial when he was chairman of the Senate Banking Committee? He can claim a lion's share of the credit for this nation's financial implosion. There should be a federal prison cell with his name on the door.
Then, there is Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La. She got $300 million in federal funding for her vote. The list goes on: Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., wrapped up $10 billion for community health centers. Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, joined Nelson to exempt non-profit insurers from a hefty excise tax in their states. Insurers in the rest of the country, and their customers, well, they'll pay.
Votes got Vermont and Massachusetts more Medicaid funding, while Medicare Advantage beneficiaries in Pennsylvania, New York and Florida now are shielded from upcoming nationwide cuts.
You will be picking up the tab for all this midnight largesse.
It is clear Americans oppose such shameful corruption. More than 80 percent of respondents in a Zogby poll last week agreed that the reason Congress slaps together long, convoluted bills written in bureaucratese is to cloak special interest spending and hide its activities.
In fact, 83.5 percent agreed at least "somewhat" with that notion; 61.2 percent agreed strongly; 14.4 percent disagreed; and 5.8 percent disagreed strongly.
In poll after poll, Americans say they are tired of the payoffs and backroom dealing and political corruption -- Democrat and Republican alike -- but still it flourishes. This legislation is a sad reminder.
At this point, the fiscal thuggery, the cheapening of the system, is about re-election, personal aggrandizement, re-election, babes, cars, re-election, young boys, having chefs call you by your first name, and, of course, re-election.
It certainly is not about real health care reform -- or the future of our nation.
Paul Jenkins is editor of the Anchorage Daily Planet.
PAUL JENKINS
COMMENT