Today in Washington, D.C. - Mar 19, 2010 - New Backroom Deals Plus Old Deals Remain in Health Bill - Most Americans Disgusted!

The Senate resumed consideration of H.R. 1586, the FAA reauthorization bill. No votes are scheduled today.   Yesterday, an amendment from Sens. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) that would have established caps on discretionary spending failed to get the needed 60 votes for adoption. Following that vote, the Senate rejected an alternative spending cap amendment from Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) which would have suspended the caps if Congress doesn’t enact the recommendations of the debt commission. Also rejected were an amendment from Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) which would have established a point of order against earmarks in any year with a budget deficit, and an amendment to the McCain amendment from Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) which would have established 10 years of non-security discretionary spending limits.

Disgusted, The Wall Street Journal editorializes this morning, “Has there ever been a political spectacle like the final throes of ObamaCare? We can't recall one outside of a banana republic . . . as Democrats try to assemble the partisan minimum of 216 House votes—if only for an hour or so at some point on Sunday—and no bribe is too costly, no deal too cynical, no last-minute rewrite too blatant.” Indeed, the new health care reconciliation bill unveiled by House Democrats yesterday features new backroom deals for certain states, while preserving many of the original distasteful deals from the Senate bill.

The AP reports, “Bye bye, Cornhusker Kickback. Hello, special treatment for Tennessee and North Dakota. Democrats unveiling revisions Thursday to their health care overhaul bill decided to kill the extra $100 million in Medicaid funds for Nebraska that has become a symbol of backdoor deal making. But the 153 pages of changes to the massive health care package include extra money for hospitals in Tennessee that serve large numbers of low-income patients. And though the bill would revamp the nation's student loan system to make the government the only lender, one bank — the state-owned Bank of North Dakota — would be allowed to continue making student loans.”

Appearing on Fox News’ Fox & Friends and On the Record with Greta Van Susteren, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) said that “it’s crunch time” for Democrats trying to twist enough arms to force a massive government takeover of health care through Congress.  Boehner reiterated that if the American people stay engaged, we can win this fight and stop Washington Democrats’ 2,309-page health care bill “that’s only gotten worse” and will “kill job prospects in America.”  Boehner called the controversial “Slaughter Solution” Democrats intend to use to pass the Senate health care bill without voting on it “an affront to every American” and a prime example of why the American people are “upset about the bill and the arrogance of power that’s going on here.”  [video]

Roll Call, which first reported the North Dakota deal yesterday noted, “Republicans had already dubbed the provision the ‘Bismarck Bank Job.’” North Dakota is an interesting state to choose, given that the senior senator, Kent Conrad, is the chair of the Senate Budget Committee, key to the reconciliation process in the Senate, and the state’s lone House member, Earl Pomeroy, is one of the remaining undecided House Democrats.

The other new deal, as the AP noted, is for Tennessee: “Retiring Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., has fought for the funds for years to bring the state's aid up to par with the rest of the country, spokeswoman Emily Phelps said. She said their inclusion had nothing to do with his announcement Thursday that he will vote for the final health legislation after opposing an earlier version in November.” It doesn’t?  The timing suggests it could be a Rocky Top Vote Swap.

And consider this deal. It appears that theObama Administration and Congressional Democrats have dipped to a new level to secure votes for their government takeover of health care-trying by using  water as a political weapon to secure two votes for their bill. For years, California has experienced an artificial water shortage due to environmental lawsuits and liberals in Washington, DC, fundamentally changing the operation of water projects by diverting large amounts of fresh water.  The result has been a government-imposed drought that has cost jobs and harmed agriculture.On March 17, 2010, the Department of Interior (DOI) announced that they were allowing new water supplies to flow through the Central Valley Project.  The news was not scheduled for release for two more weeks, but DOI explained that the early announcement came at the behest of two House Democrats: Reps. Jim Costa (D-CA) and Dennis Cardoza (D-CA) who are reportedly undecided Democrat swing votes on the government takeover of health care.

They represent districts that have large agricultural interests which have been decimated by three years of regulatory drought in the region, which has had devastating economic effects. The Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats have turned a blind eye to the region's agony and staggering unemployment. If Reps. Cardoza (D-CA) and Costa (D-CA) negotiated their coveted health care votes in exchange for a small increase in water, "couldn't they have at least secured all of the water Central Valley residents deserve and need? Is only 25% of contracted water for a year in California in exchange for a nationwide 100% government takeover of health care really a good deal for their constituents?"

And while the infamous Cornhusker Kickback got the boot from the new bill, preserved are the Louisiana Purchase, the “U-Con,” where Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) secured $100 million for a Connecticut hospital, and the “Handout Montana,” where Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) included a provision that benefits just one town in Montana.

And of course, the rest of the bill is little better. It features even more Medicare cuts and even more tax hikes than before, to the tune of $520 billion and $560 billion respectively. As Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said yesterday, “Taking a bill that House Democrats are too embarrassed to vote on, adding more than $150 billion in new taxes and slashing $60 billion more from our seniors’ Medicare and keeping sweetheart deals may make some Washington Democrats ‘giddy,’ but it’s not reform.”

It’s little wonder that Americans are repulsed by this process and this legislation. A new Pew poll finds once again that most Americans oppose the Democrats’ health care bill, 48%, while only 38% support it. When asked for a once-word description of Congress, 86% had something negative to say. The NBC/Wall Street Journal poll from earlier this week found Congress has a dismal 17% approval rating. And a new Field Poll out of California (a state where 52% still approve of President Obama, while nationally, most disapprove, according to Gallup) shows 80% of people in the Golden State disapprove of how Congress is handling health care.

It’s long past time to scrap these awful bills and start over. It’s not too late for a few House Democrats to listen to their constituents and do the right thing.

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