Obamacare and Bribes

Yes, I consider these actions "bribes".

As in "money or favor given or promised in order to influence the judgment or conduct of a person in a position of trust".

These are the bribes given by Senator Harry Reid to get his Obamacare vote for cloture in the middle of the night:

1. Nebraska will receive $100 million dollars for Medicaid. This promise was given to Senator Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska) in exchange for his vote.

BTW, Massachusetts (Senators John Kerry and Paul Kirk) and Vermont (Senator Bernie Sanders) got this, too.

2. Another $100 million to Louisiana for Senator Mary Landrieu's (D-Louisiana) vote.

3. Senator Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut) got $100 million dollars for a new hospital for the University of Connecticut.

4. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) got $10 billion for community health centers.

5. Senator Carl Levin (D-Michigan) got an exemption from excise taxes on the state's non-profit insurers. Oh, and Senator Ben Nelson was able to get this exemption too!

6. Pennsylvania (Senators Robert Casey D-Pa and Arlen Specter D-Pa), New York (Senators Charles Schumer D-NY and Kirstin Gillibrand D-NY) and Florida (Senator Bill Nelson D-Florida) got protection for their Medicare Advantage programs, which are under the axe in other states.

And---In the House: Don't forget the $300 million dollars to California for Medicare help and for the vote of Representative Sam Farr (D-California).

And et cetera:

1. It's $18 million to AARP for their support of Obamacare, which will be a boost to their selling of Medicare gap coverage. This ostensibly was given for jobs creation, but according to Recovery.gov, no jobs have been created by AARP.

2. Unions--in the House version, unions, which have apparently mismanaged retirement funds, will be eligible for up to $10 million dollars to "reinsure" their retirees.