{"id":46448,"date":"2009-11-21T11:04:19","date_gmt":"2009-11-21T16:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/how-the-democrats-bought-a-key-healthcare-vote-for-100-million-2009-11"},"modified":"2009-11-21T11:04:19","modified_gmt":"2009-11-21T16:04:19","slug":"how-the-democrats-bought-a-key-healthcare-vote-for-100-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/46448","title":{"rendered":"How The Democrats Bought A Key Healthcare Vote For $100 Million"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"mary<\/p>\n

An epic overhaul of the nation’s healthcare system comes down to a single vote.<\/p>\n

POLITICO<\/a>: Two Saturdays ago, Pelosi passed health reform on a squeaker of a House vote. Today, Reid can’t spare a single Democrat as the Senate decides whether to start debate. If not, President Barack Obama’s reform hopes suffer immeasurable harm.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That said, things were looking good at daybreak, as Reid can be reasonably confident of 59 votes, with Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) a yes vote and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) leaning yes. The holdout: Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), who has been a fan of reform generally but faces a tough 2010 re-election fight.<\/p>\n

So it’s all down to Lincoln, but getting Landrieu (pictured) to comit to a “yes” is fascinating.<\/p>\n

Basically, the Senate bought her vote for $100 million.<\/p>\n

ABCNews<\/a>: On page 432 of the Reid bill, there is a section increasing federal Medicaid subsidies for “certain states recovering from a major disaster.” <\/p>\n

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.” <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Read the whole thing ><\/a><\/p>\n

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