AP – A $100 million item for construction of a university hospital was inserted in the Senate health care bill at the request of Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., who faces a difficult re-election campaign, his office said Sunday night.
The legislation leaves it up to the Health and Human Services Department to decide where the money should be spent, although spokesman Bryan DeAngelis said Dodd hopes to claim it for the University of Connecticut.
The provision is included in a 383-page series of changes to the health care bill that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., outlined Saturday. Scattered throughout are numerous items sought by individual lawmakers, many of them directing money explicitly to programs or projects in their home states.
And the worst part is, he’s not the only one getting bribes.
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This doesn’t bug me too much.
What really PO’s me is that the GOP and the “blue dog” conservative Dems are still going to get their pork.
Anyone who opposed healthcare reform shouldn’t get one damn earmark until they start voting for average American again.
The payoffs continue. At this rate, they will have to raise the debt limit before they can vote on this turd of a bill.
Whatever happened to the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget Act? Is it meaningless if they simply raise the debt limit? And how is the debt limit set in the first place? It seems that there are simply no limits or controls at all on how much Congress can spend.
“Anyone who opposed healthcare reform shouldn’t get one damn earmark until they start voting for average American again.”
Wrong. Anyone who votes for this healthcare reform, in the state it currently exist, should be fired.
While healthcare reform is essential, if you have to bribe most – if not all – of the senators to pass it, then this plan needs to die.
If this plan was so great, if it actually increased coverage while reducing expenses, then there should be no need for bribery.
Something stinks here. We know that the evil insurance companies are the real winners. We know the middle class are again the real losers.
Hopefully even the crazy blind liberals on this blog can see this. I’m not waiting up, though.
He certainly has Congressional HAIR, doesn’t he?
What IS it with these guys?
Greg Allen, not one Republican Senator is voting for this bill. Why do you think they would have one earmark slated for the GOP in the Senate bill? Do you know of one? I sure don’t.
The Democrats own this one, COMPLETELY. They wrote it behind closed doors, they tried to get it passed without even reading it, and not one Republican Senator has voted to support it.
You can’t blame Republicans for this. They were shut out. And this after all the years of the Democrats crying about there not being “bipartisan” legislation during the Bush years.
Bipartisanship is dead. This is one party rule.
Does he actually have follicles on his forehead? If not, where the hell do those silvery strands on his forehead come out of his skull?
“Bipartisanship is dead. This is one party rule.”
Sort of like Hitler.
Faxon, I would have said “sort of like communism” but point taken.
What about Reid making sure his state of Nevada won’t face higher Medicaid costs and Nelson in Florida making sure seniors would receive additional Medicare Advantage support?
This is really a bill for the people isn’t it? This thing stinks like hell and I think the Republicans would do the same thing. Don’t talk about this being done for the average American. The elected representatives show their contempt for the average American every day.
The new George Bush memorial embassy in Iraq costs over 1 Billion dollars. Like to remind that’s Iraq, not Anytown, USA.
Looking through my records, I don’t see the Republican outrage like I see for this American hospital built for one tenth the cost.
Whaaa, whaaaa. Turn on the vacuum cleaner to drown out the crying.
“Bipartisanship is dead. This is one party rule.”
Sort of like Hitler.
More like the GOP-led congress in 2002-2004. Why do you guys have such a short memory?
What ever happen to these guys representing all of America and not just their state. All they seem to be their for is getting pork money or projects for their state. They could care less about America. This goes for both parties! Very sad way of doing this countries business.
Olo, puhleez, there was lots of bipartisan votes during under GW Bush. Bush did not have a super-majority like Obama currently enjoys. Nothing would have been passed without SOME Democrat support between 2002-2004. However, that did not stop Democrats from crying foul that the bills were “purely” partisan. In actuality, some of the bills were only “mostly” partisan.
If I recall correctly, more than a few of Democrats voted for the War in Iraq and the Patriot Act. Obamacare is the first bill in many years (if not decades) that I can ever recall a TRUE super-majority partisan vote.
Mark, the need for 60 votes didn’t exist as a practical matter until 2006 when the Dems had 50+1. The threat of a filibuster was rare, almost nonexistent, until the GOP started using it regularly in 2006.
Again, where’s your knowledge of recent history???
OK, not quite nonexistent, to correct myself.
Filibusters were invoked 139 times by Republicans in 2008, doubling the previous record.
And for the record, the GOP is well on pace to blow away records for 100% opposition votes.
Olo, filibusters, although rare, are meant as a safeguard. They should be used when appropriate and should be welcomed to prevent a single party from running amok against the will of the people.
However, now, with a Democrat super-majority, filibusters are a meaningless and are no longer an hindrance. Will of the people, be damned.
What, exactly, am I forgetting?
It never ceases to amaze me how many drooling idiots still argue as if there is any difference between Democrats and Republicans.
As if only Democrats engage in this sort of crooked behavior.
THEY ALL DO IT!
ALL POLITICIANS!
REGARDLESS OF PARTY AFFILIATION!
Get your heads out of your asses and see the obvious for what it is!
Are you people really this fucking stupid???
So Democrats are borrowing other people’s money, to bribe other Democrats to vote in favor of borrowing even more of other people’s money in order to spend it on something that only 36-38% of the people want.
If you don’t see what’s completely out of control about that, then your ability to think clearly is broken.
Mark, you’re forgetting that the GOP is the party who defined the lack of bipartisanship we see today. They got bitchy and whiny when they lost their majority and more, and will use every weapon they can muster to oppose everything, voting in a solid block no matter what it’s about. First time that’s ever happened.
Blaming the Dems today, is to be ignorant of how we got here. That’s a strong tendency of today’s right.
Troublemaker, if you can’t see the difference then you’re not paying attention.
Yeah, absolutely horrible. That a HOSPITAL would be paid for with taxpayer money! Why, that $100 million could have paid for 10 fact-finding missions to Bangkok for Jon Kyl and David Vitter.
# 10
Most congressmen clearly understand this bill is a scam that is going to cost a trillion in new taxes, require a death panel for seniors to meet the goals set, and the equivalent of winning the lottery to not bankrupt the country sooner. You don’t need a pay off to vote for a good bill.
The nation was already on schedule to go bankrupt and people like you thank all you have to do wish and Santa will pay the bills.
I don’t think you mean to kill people but you are to freeking delusional to do good. Okay maybe you and your buddies are into mercy killings. I don’t know. All I can be sure about is the results of your preferred course of action is clear and by and large they aren’t pretty.
Baggins is exactly correct, under the leadership of the Führers Limbaugh, Beck, Coulter, Hannity, and O’Reilly, all preach the Nazi doctrine of if you don’t vote a certain way (their way) you are NOT a true Republican and should be removed from the party and shunned for all time; and if they are not the majority party, then they should oppose EVERYTHING the majority proposes no matter what or how sensible it is, just to make the majority fail and stop ANYTHING from happening. They have done this on EVERY vote since they lost their majority in 2006. The statistics on their use of filibusters is perfect evidence of this tactic, and their opposition to the bill on financial support for the military the other night is the perfect example of their willingness to destroy this country in the process. And yes, I think the word Nazi is quite appropriate in this instance.
And deowll (#22), we have Death Panels right now. They are called insurance companies, and they use odds, statistics, probabilities, medical history, life history, etc to determine if you are worthy of coverage, treatment, tests, drugs, surgery, life-support, whatever, from them, your doctor approved by them, or your hospital or clinic approved by them. This entire process is an effort to fix this little problem, so that EVERY American can get insurance, help and treatments without the use of probabilities decided by a group of people in an insurance office somewhere acting as a Death Panel, which is the result if they deny you coverage or treatment because stastics show the odds of that treatment being of use in your situation.
Very few people are actually opposed to health care reform. Problem is: to be in favor of health care reform you need to be against this bill.
“Some idiot said”
“Führers Limbaugh, Beck, Coulter, Hannity, and O’Reilly, all preach the Nazi doctrine of if you don’t vote a certain way (their way) you are NOT a true Republican”
Beck and Hannity are not Republicans. Try getting at least one fact straight before posting.If you have listened to either for more than 30 minutes you would know that but I’m sure it’s difficult to do with your head up some Liberal Democrat’s ass.
Just one thing: $100 mil ain’t gonna build a modern hospital. Depending on how big and glorious they wish to make it, Uof Conn is gonna have to find some more money. A LOT more money.
Don’t make it right but I just wanted to point out we ain’t paying for the whole thing.
#1 Greg – By the way, it’s time to stop calling this “healthcare reform” and recognize it is a sea-change in the way health care is delivered in the USofA. It is the confiscation of health care. Oh, well. Why do I bother? The death panel is already scheduling my case.
I like cats. Maybe it is $100 million for a cat hospital. That would be about right.
Otherwise this is just another way to screw the American public.
#12, “What ever happen to these guys representing all of America and not just their state.”
LOL, the job of a representative is to speak for the people in his district whom he represents. The job of a Senator is to represent his State. “Bringing home the bacon” is what I would fully expect these people to do; which is half the reason to have constitutional limits on the things the government is allowed to do in the first place.