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Posted on 01/05/2010 1:45:54 PM PST by GOP_Lady
'It's not a special deal,'' Ben Nelson told the New York Times of the special deal that converted him into the 60th Senator for ObamaCare. "It's a fair deal. Some people said I was getting money for Nebraska. That's wrong. I was just getting rid of an underfunded federal mandate. There's nothing sleazy about it. I cracked the door open for other states."
The other states think somewhat less of Mr. Nelson's benevolence. Under the "Cornhusker Kickback," the federal government will pay all of Nebraska's new Medicaid costs forever, while taxpayers in the other 49 states will see their budgets explode as this safety-net program for the poor is expanded to one out of every five Americans.
"In addition to violating the most basic and universally held notions of what is fair and just," the AGs wrote last week to the Democratic leadership, the Article I spending clause is limited to "general Welfare." If Congress claims to be legitimately serving that interest by expanding the joint state-federal Medicaid program, then why is it relieving just one state of a mandate that otherwise applies to all states? In other words, serving the nongeneral welfare of Nebraska—for no other reason than political expediency—violates a basic Supreme Court check on the "display of arbitrary power" that was established in 1937's Helvering v. Davis.
Obviously Congress treats different states differently all the time, via earmarks and the like, but in this case there is simply no plausible argument for some kind of "general" benefit. The only state that gains from special treatment for Nebraska is Nebraska—and this actively harms all other states, which will have fewer tax dollars for their own priorities while effectively subsidizing the Cornhusker state.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Go Nebraska! Go!
The whole bill is unconstitutional. It violates the 10th Amendment.
Even if the SCOTUS finds this part of the bill unconstitutional, it’s likely that the bill itself will go forward with Nelson’s “yes” vote. Nelson will know that he was had but it won’t make any difference because he is a Democrat.
Here is what Ben Nelson’s hometown paper has to say:
http://www.mccookgazette.com/story/1598314.html
Hicks like me that live in Nebr just ain’t impressed!
Maybe some good will come out of this and it will kill the bill.... Then again, probably not... X(
Ben “Baby Killer” Nelson
What could make nelson turn on his own kind...he is a Judas of the first order. Those a$$holes in Washington must have promised him a fat job... I would recommend when he comes back to NE that everyone turn their backs on him....the brave one’s can “moon” him. Nothing works like being scorned by one’s peers... The sorry ba$tard deserves to be tarred and feathered....which ain’t a bad idea......
Let’s not lose sight of the other deals states like Vermont, Connecticut, Lousiana, etc. got. They need the light shined on them as well.
There's nothing sleazy about it. I cracked the door open for other states.Thanks GOP_Lady.
I think hitting him with a shoe would send the message I am looking for. I wonder what the penalty would be for that infraction ?
If Obamacare passes, the taxes and fees start immediately. Benefits start up in 2014, with 3 years of cash available IN THEORY.
In reality, when has the gov't ever left a pile of cash lying around? They'll spend it all - to pay off contributors, enrich their friends, buy votes, whatever.
2014 rolls around, and people show up at the doctor's office for their health care, and there's $0 available. What does gov't do? To avoid a riot, they throw everyone into Medicaid, a State funded health service.
This will be the largest unfunded mandate ever foisted upon the states, and they won't be up to the task.
Maybe Nelson thinks NE can avoid this by getting the Fed to pay for their increased costs when the SHTF. He's dreaming.
Unconstitutional?
Nah. Democrats can do nothing that is unconstitutional.
They are always right, no matter what. They are perfect, brilliant, bright, intelligent, without equal intellectually.
They are so bright, that regular people are like cattle compared to them.
Unconstitutional? Never!
Perfect Democrats are god-like and will always be our leaders.
/S/
IMHO
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