Patterico's Pontifications

12/21/2009

Nebraska Reacts to Ben Nelson

Filed under: Health Care,Politics — DRJ @ 10:22 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

Nebraskans are reacting to Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson’s health care negotiations that will give the State several valuable perks, but it’s not pretty:

“Gov. Dave Heineman “contacted me and he said this is another unfunded federal mandate and it’s going to stress the state budget, and I agreed with him,” the Nebraska Democrat said. “I said to the leader and others that this is something that has to be fixed. I didn’t participate in the way it was fixed.”

But Heineman expressed anything but gratitude, saying he had nothing to do with the compromise and calling the overhaul bill “bad news for Nebraska and bad news for America.”

“Nebraskans did not ask for a special deal, only a fair deal,” Heineman said in a statement Sunday.

That criticism is only a taste of what Nelson has received since announcing Saturday that he would become the 60th vote needed to advance the landmark legislation.”

There were also negative responses from anti-abortion and fiscal responsibility groups, responses that Nelson labeled as “orchestrated” and “laughable.” Nelson’s home state supporters included an advocacy group for the poor and the Nebraska Democratic Party.

— DRJ

24 Responses to “Nebraska Reacts to Ben Nelson”

  1. If the Republicans did this, the mainstream media would be going ballistic.

    But instead we have the State Run Media.

    Alta Bob (e8af2b)

  2. And “orchestrated” carries a negative connotation WHY? Was the Boston Tea Party “orchestrated”?

    Icy Texan (ea15cb)

  3. the Democratic National Convention is orchestrated, so that’s evil too, right?

    redc1c4 (fb8750)

  4. If millions of people start streaming into Nebraska to take advantage of the great deal Nelson got, you’ll know it was a smart thing to do.

    Somehow I doubt many Americans will look at this ugly duckling of a bill and say that’s what has been missing from this country since 1776.

    MU789 (af0809)

  5. I have a couple Qs on this. Does this legislative preference violate the Equal Protection clause?

    Can’t the senator vote against the bill when it comes up for the final Senate vote and have it pass?

    I would guess that he believes (probably correctly) that will give him adequate cover later. That is, Reid might just need to find 51 votes and that will let the 9 most at-risk senators vote against it. Or maybe 50 with Biden casting a tie-break. Is that right?

    jim2 (6482d8)

  6. November 2, 2010 – Repeal Democrat House
    November 6, 2012 – Repeal Obama

    cedarhill (5b19aa)

  7. I am neither advocating for it nor am I condoning but the sleaze in DC is getting so baddddd that I predict soon enough people will find it “OK” to pursue violence versus their legislators on a regular basis.

    Strange situation our Democracy finds itself in when 39% support yields 60% of the vote.

    Strange situation when certain political classes vote salary and perk increases for themselves while draining the purses of the others.

    Strange situation when every word out of a legislators mouth is lies and fabrication, everybody knows it and the media sings “Everything gonna be alright.”

    A significant minority who carries this country on its back is increasingly enraged over the last 17 years of nonsense.

    HeavenSent (01a566)

  8. Can’t the senator vote against the bill when it comes up for the final Senate vote and have it pass?

    I would guess that he believes (probably correctly) that will give him adequate cover later. Comment by jim2 — 12/22/2009 @ 5:36

    That may well be what he and others have been counting on, but the coverage this has actually received by the MSM, including the bribery needed to accomplish the 60 votes, may make the plan moot, unless actually enough change their mind to defeat it. Even the NYT was listing all of the perks that were given away.

    MD in Philly (d4668b)

  9. well, the one quibble i have with this post, is that this isn’t really nebraska yet, but just a few prominent nebraskans. now, i posted a link to a poll suggesting that nelson will lose his job if he signs on for obamacare, so we can suspect that ordinary nebraskans won’t be happy either.

    A.W. (b1db52)

  10. A.W. –

    So, Nelson votes against the bill and it passes 51-49. Want to bet against the hypothesis that Nelson’s deal with Reid includes just that provision?

    Then Nelson has the goodies for Nebraska and can claim he only voted the way he did so that the bill could come to a vote.

    jim2 (6482d8)

  11. Nelson is dead meat in Nebraska.

    PCD (1d8b6d)

  12. When one reads the part of the health care bill dirty Harry wrote that prevents any future congress from repealing without a super majority it makes one think of a vacation in the Washington area. These people need to be removed from office. I do not know if we can wait until 2010. I am not advocating, just sayin.

    Zelsdorf Ragshaft III (57cae1)

  13. #12 –

    Troll? Is this a plant from the Left?

    jim2 (6482d8)

  14. No, ZR-III is a long time commenter here, and very Libertarian (or so he seems to me), who does not suffer scoundrels gladly. And, the current Congress seems Hell bent on making fools of all of us.

    AD - RtR/OS! (ad16d5)

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  16. Ben Nelson has been “jokerized” in Nebraska. Fliers are going up in rural areas.

    Sabba Hillel (153338)

  17. I know enough about the people of Nebraska to know they’re ashamed and embarrassed by Ben Nelson. His term as their representative are numbered by the days till the next election.

    ropelight (b70906)

  18. As a Nebraska resident, I can assure you that our protests are not “laughable”. If Ben Nelson runs for re-election, he is going down. Hagel was smart enough to quit while he was ahead – and Ben would do well to follow his example. One last item – root for the Huskers in the Holiday Bowl. That was part of the deal – Harry Reid promised Ben that we would win against Arizona if he voted for cloture.

    Yossarian (aee633)

  19. Didn’t you just make a case to root AGAINST Nebraska?

    jim2 (6482d8)

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