State Prosecutors Probe Constitutionality Of Nelson's "Nebraska Compromise" In Health Reform Bill
The top prosecutors in seven states are probing the constitutionality of a political deal that cut a funding break for Nebraska in order to pass a federal health care reform bill, South Carolina's attorney general said Tuesday.
Attorney General Henry McMaster said he and his counterparts in Alabama, Colorado, Michigan, North Dakota, Texas and Washington state - all Republicans - are jointly taking a look at the deal they've dubbed the "Nebraska compromise."
"The Nebraska compromise, which permanently exempts Nebraska from paying Medicaid costs that Texas and all other 49 states must pay, may violate the United States Constitution - as well as other provisions of federal law," Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said.
McMaster's move comes at the request of Republican U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint of South Carolina.
In a letter to McMaster, Graham singled out the deal to win Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson's vote on the massive health care bill the Senate is expected to adopt Thursday. Nelson held out as fellow Democrats worked to get 60 votes to foreclose a GOP filibuster and the bill was amended to shield Nebraska from the expected $45 million annual cost tied to expanding Medicaid programs.
"We have serious concerns about the constitutionality of this Nebraska compromise as it results in special treatment for only one state in the nation at the expense of the other 49," Graham and DeMint wrote.
Nebraska wasn't alone in getting Medicaid breaks. Vermont, Louisiana and Massachusetts also got help with their programs.[..]
Also Tuesday, U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., said Republicans need to stop complaining about deals their colleagues made.
"Rather than sitting here and carping about what Nelson got for Nebraska, I would say to my friends on the other side of the aisle: Let's get together and see what we can get for South Carolina," Clyburn said.
Boy, this is a tough one. As much as I don't want to validate the petty obstructionist machinations of Republicans, I kinda wouldn't mind Nelson's sweetheart deal struck down. After all, he thinks we women are second class citizens undeserving of full health coverage.
"Let's get together and see what we can get for South Carolina,"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHhKnc0XZrs
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
We could get together and get the governor of South Carolina a road map so he doesn't get lost when he goes hiking and ends up in South America rather than South Carolina.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
It's a tough call for me too. If it helps the people in his state that's fine with me, but then again, what state's people wouldn't be helped by something like this.
Graham is just being a pain in the ass for the sake of being a pain in the ass. That's his best talent.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
ben was elected.
go figure!
Some stuff you can't make up!
"Let's get together and see what we can get for South Carolina"
Ask Lindsay - his wish is for fewer people of color in SC? (or is it just more white racists?)
Ho ho ho - Merry Christachanakkwanswa
"I know that there are people who do not love their fellow
man, and I hate people like that! " ~ Tom Lehrer (1928 - )
I could get any political figure to do anything I ask if they could smell the aroma of the Christmas cookies my husband is baking right now. Even the Grinch, Lindsay, would jump through a hoop to get one of these cookies just from the way they smell cooking.
Ho Ho Ho, Yum!
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
I spent the last three days baking cookies. Well, except for the Rum Balls. Those don't have to be baked. Today it's the sugar cookies and some Russian Tea Cakes (they melt in your mouth)....ha!
I had to go to my other sons house to bake them and at the peak of activity he and his wife went out back to take the trash in and when they came back in the kitchen they made such a fuss about how great the house smelled that they were getting the whole crowd to walk outside and come back in just to smell the cookies. (I think it was the Zimsterne Stars that was intoxicating them).
Merry Christmas!
"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn
Merry Christmas to you and your family. Dogs and cats included if there are any. :)
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
i just love that nelson is being publicly called out on this and has to defend it. it's esp funny to hear the term 'cornhusker compromise' -- i'm sure the good citizens of nebraska will appreciate being highlighted for their duplicity. lol.
play the father in the teevee show "The Wonder Years"? LOL!
As tho there were no pressing problems in SC, McMaster and Graham and DeMint are just grandstanding. At least Rep Clyburn has his eye on the ball. South Carolinians are out of work and hungry and uneducated and sick. Vengeful, political grandstanding should not be on the agenda.
It's true that this entire process has been ugly and that the special deals that were cut don't sit well and that there is a lot that is missing from the Senate bill that was passed, but I am hoping that this is a case of "half a loaf is better than none."
to bring home for Christmas.
"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn
In an interesting development, now we have Gov Sanford reaching out to Rep Clyburn to try to get some Medicaid help for SC. I hope McMaster et al weigh in on that.
Reid showed that you can herd cats, you just need some special catnip to do it.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
Or be a fishmonger.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Nicole,
As much as I would like to see Senator Nelson leave the Senate, what these REPUBLICAN State's Attorney Generals are doing is called a "political game". Technically, they have no "standing" to even be "investigating" the deals that any Senator makes to get legislation passed.
This sounds an awful lot like what Maricopa County Attorney Thomas and his henchman, Sheriff Arpaio is doing down here in Arizona.
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2009-12-24/new...
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news...
Election 2012: Be Educated! Be Active! Vote!
www.PhoenixJustice.com
That's why I said I was conflicted. I don't like their games, but Nelson has been such a thorn in the side of the Democrats trying to enact reform that I'm a little less upset about him being targeted.
When the bill passed this morning a lady called into National Journal on c-span and said she was so angry that it passed that she was taking down her Christmas tree, decorations and all her lights. She said this was supposed to be a nation under god.
I guess she forgot about the part of this holiday the Christians celebrate where someone gave a pregnant lady a place to stay in their barn so she could have her baby. Seems a little ironic that this religious lady would throw a hissy fit about a bill that would come to the aid of so many people just like was supposed to have happened this night many years ago.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves
Ex 34-13 KJV
Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the LORD thy God, which thou shalt make thee.
Deut 16-21 KJV
That same night the LORD said to him, "Take the second bull from your father's herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father's altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.
Then build a proper kind of altar to the LORD your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering."
Judges 16:25-26 KJV
And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.
2 King 23:6 KJV
And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.
Isaiah 17:8 KJV
Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.
Jeremiah 17:2 KJV
For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.
Chronicles 14:23 KJV
I will uproot from among you your Asherah poles and demolish your cities.
Micah 5:14 KJV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYEXzx-TINc
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
should now give up their SINGLE-PAYER healthcare insurance.
that this is a tough one at all. Equal protection doesn't cover health care? I hope it does get struck down. After the legislation is signed.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
So what happens if this "Cornhusker Compromise" is unconstitutional? Does it ust get stripped out of the bill and it keeps going? "Sorry Senator Rughead but what you want is illegal but thanks for your vote anyway." I wouldn't mind if the thing gets stripped out. Hell, it might get stripped out anyway before the House votes for it.
mconnnell, unfortunately represnts ky. he too complained about this. ky is one of the poorest states in the country. mcconnell couldn't even find it in him to reach out to the dems to broker a deal for our state. now he complains about the deal nelson got for nebraska. this is what happens when you co-operate. ky needs all the extra benefits it can get.
snooze you loose,
The People's Republic of S.A.S.E.
The People's Republic of lemony fresh.
The People's Republic of chocolaty delicious.
The People's Republic of lumps in my oatmeal.
The People's Republic of Casiotone.
5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100
Been hitting the egg nog a little early?
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
The 5% Nation of Twitter
This person is "following" you and that person is "following" you. I don't even know who these people are or why they're "following" me? I don't even KNOW these people!
If I could figure twitter out, is it something one should want to do?
Aw-oh....C.I.A.??
"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn
I think that's why people are following me maybe! :)
"The greatest tyranny is censoring information in order to be better able to control people." - Cristina Saralegui
If these attorneys general want to argue that it's unconstitutional, they need to find some provision in the Constitution that this "Nebraska Compromise" violates. Mere moral outrage (and mere partisan bloviating) do not make legal arguments. As a political move to call attention to Nelson's vote, I can half-understand this action; however, all that's going to do is highlight to Nebraska voters how much extra they got because of their Senator successfully playing the holdout game, so as much as everyone else might be annoyed at Nelson's dealmaking, I doubt that too many Nebraskans are going to make him suffer for it at the ballot box. The same applies to the pro-life language that he apparently successfully championed: again, readers of this blog and those sympathetic to it may hate it, but his dealmaking here was very likely compatible with the desires of the Nebraska electorate, so increased public awareness that it was Nelson who got that language included isn't likely to hurt his reelection prospects.
(And, of course, those GOP attorneys general seem more interested in the fact that his dealmaking got more federal spending rather than the fact that his dealmaking got pro-life language inserted into the bill, even though he had substantial influence on both.)
The red states already see considerable redistribution of federal money coming in from the blue states. Where has been the precedent for complaining that North Dakota gets more money than Wyoming, or whatever?
Moral outrage? Sure, it certainly is a hugely hard to disguise zit on the already ugly face of red state subsidies.
But people confusing legal arguments and political arguments bother me (I'm an attorney), and when other attorneys do it, it bothers me even more. (Of course, being an attorney general is both a political and a legal job, but I still think it's possible to keep some separation between the two. My crusade is generally a rather lonely one, though.)
Well since the R's had already decided to vote no . . . They got nuttin!
Ho ho ho - serves them right.
"I know that there are people who do not love their fellow
man, and I hate people like that! " ~ Tom Lehrer (1928 - )
Who you calling a ho, chump!!!
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
So Barry, Michelle, the girls and Bo can wing on out to Maui for their vacation....
"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn
cuz Barry must be exhausted for fighting for reform. not.
Did they have to go somewhere so "exotic"? I'm sure Cokie is fretting again.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
on the health care legislation:
http://www.politico.com/livepulse/1209/BREAKI...
"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn
'Boy, this is a tough one. As much as I don't want to validate the petty obstructionist machinations of Republicans, I kinda wouldn't mind Nelson's sweetheart deal struck down.'
Gee, maybe you should look at it from the perspective of 'is this right or wrong?' and stop giving a shit about the politics.
Neither side is right on this.
Fair enough?
...to Monty Hall!
all the blue dogs. Say 20 yrs free room and board in a Federal facility. Lets not leave out other worthy recipients like lieberman, wilson, mcconnell, boehner, cantor. There's along list that has betrayed the country.
For once, I agree with the Republicans.
Why the hell should the people of Nebraska be spared from paying Medicaid taxes when the rest of us have to??? Just because their Senator is a blue dog corporate prostitute?
F*** that!!
what needs to happen is that all states get 100% Medicaid from the feds, not just Nebraska.
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