A common criticism of the Senate's health care bill (H.R. 3590, passed last night by the House of Representatives by a 219-212 margin) is that it contained "backroom deals" given to certain Senators to "buy" their votes, including the so-called "cornhusker kickback" that would give Nebraska more federal funding for Medicare for longer than other states. (For an example of such criticism, see this FOXNews article.)
Republicans like to blame Democrats for these special deals, but who's really to blame? Let's consider four different groups of people in the Senate and their culpability with regard to these deals. For purposes of this discussion, disregard arguments about the merits of the rest of the bill, and just consider the backroom deals.
Rank and File Democratic Senators
Democratic Senators who did not demand special deals and who are not a part of the leadership probably have the least culpability. They faced a choice between (a) the full bill including the deals or (b) no bill at all. Thus, by voting in favor of the packet they cannot really be said to have supported the backroom deals; all that can be said is that they were not willing to kill the entire package over the deals.
Democratic Leadership
The Democratic leadership, who caved to the demands of Senator Ben Nelson and others and who added the deals to the language of the bill, seem to have more culpability than the rank and file Democrats. However, in reality, they faced exactly the same choice as the rank and file members. All they could do was include or not include the deals: by not including them, they would have killed the entire bill. Thus, they to faced an all or nothing decision.
Democrats Who Demanded Deals
These people are obviously the most to blame for the favoritism and vote-buying. They were the ones who used their leverage to extort special treatment. Their choice was between (a) the bill without the deals and (b) the bill with the deals. Thus, they each made a decision on the deals themselves, they did not face an all-or-nothing choice.
Republicans
All 40 Republican Senators who refused to even schedule a vote on H.R. 3590 are almost as responsible for the deals as the few Democratic Senators who insisted on them. Each one of them had the individual power to strip those bills of the special deals by virtue of their own, singular vote. Harry Reid would have been happy to strip the "cornhusker kickback" from the bill if a Republican had promised to vote for cloture instead of Ben Nelson. Thus, every single Republican Senator faced the same choice as the Democratic Senators who demanded the deals. They could cause the bill to pass with or without the special deals.
In summary, the choice of every Republican to vote against the bill caused the deals to become a part of the passed bill to the exact same extent as the choices of the Democrats who demanded those deals. Morally, those forty Republicans are as culpable as the three or four Democrats who demanded the deals. Other Democrats would have had to destroy the entire bill to get rid of the deals. The Republicans or the few Democrats could have gotten rid of solely the deals.
So why did the forty Republicans and the three or four Democrats make a decision that almost anyone would agree was morally wrong? Because it was politically correct.
The Democrats who got special deals to their states look good to their constituents. Like any other "pork-barrel legislation," anything that brings additional money into the state is generally good for the Senators, no matter how immoral it is to do so. Voters care about their wallets more than their morals.
For the Republicans, it's an equally simple explanation. They care more about the opportunity to attack the Democrats for including the deals than they do about making it so the deals aren't actually included. If the Republicans didn't want those backroom deals to stay in place, they would have supported the passage of the health care bill or at least proposed their own amendment in the last 3 months to get rid of those deals. They have not, though, because it's easier and more politically advantageous to complain about the deals than it is to fix them.
In related news, the other health care bill that passed last night (H.R. 4872) will get rid of those special deals if the Senate also passes it. Not a single Republican in the House of Representatives voted in favor of H.R. 4872. Let's see if some Republicans in the Senate have the guts to do the right thing rather than the electorally advantageous thing.
Republicans like to blame Democrats for these special deals, but who's really to blame? Let's consider four different groups of people in the Senate and their culpability with regard to these deals. For purposes of this discussion, disregard arguments about the merits of the rest of the bill, and just consider the backroom deals.
Rank and File Democratic Senators
Democratic Senators who did not demand special deals and who are not a part of the leadership probably have the least culpability. They faced a choice between (a) the full bill including the deals or (b) no bill at all. Thus, by voting in favor of the packet they cannot really be said to have supported the backroom deals; all that can be said is that they were not willing to kill the entire package over the deals.
Democratic Leadership
The Democratic leadership, who caved to the demands of Senator Ben Nelson and others and who added the deals to the language of the bill, seem to have more culpability than the rank and file Democrats. However, in reality, they faced exactly the same choice as the rank and file members. All they could do was include or not include the deals: by not including them, they would have killed the entire bill. Thus, they to faced an all or nothing decision.
Democrats Who Demanded Deals
These people are obviously the most to blame for the favoritism and vote-buying. They were the ones who used their leverage to extort special treatment. Their choice was between (a) the bill without the deals and (b) the bill with the deals. Thus, they each made a decision on the deals themselves, they did not face an all-or-nothing choice.
Republicans
All 40 Republican Senators who refused to even schedule a vote on H.R. 3590 are almost as responsible for the deals as the few Democratic Senators who insisted on them. Each one of them had the individual power to strip those bills of the special deals by virtue of their own, singular vote. Harry Reid would have been happy to strip the "cornhusker kickback" from the bill if a Republican had promised to vote for cloture instead of Ben Nelson. Thus, every single Republican Senator faced the same choice as the Democratic Senators who demanded the deals. They could cause the bill to pass with or without the special deals.
In summary, the choice of every Republican to vote against the bill caused the deals to become a part of the passed bill to the exact same extent as the choices of the Democrats who demanded those deals. Morally, those forty Republicans are as culpable as the three or four Democrats who demanded the deals. Other Democrats would have had to destroy the entire bill to get rid of the deals. The Republicans or the few Democrats could have gotten rid of solely the deals.
So why did the forty Republicans and the three or four Democrats make a decision that almost anyone would agree was morally wrong? Because it was politically correct.
The Democrats who got special deals to their states look good to their constituents. Like any other "pork-barrel legislation," anything that brings additional money into the state is generally good for the Senators, no matter how immoral it is to do so. Voters care about their wallets more than their morals.
For the Republicans, it's an equally simple explanation. They care more about the opportunity to attack the Democrats for including the deals than they do about making it so the deals aren't actually included. If the Republicans didn't want those backroom deals to stay in place, they would have supported the passage of the health care bill or at least proposed their own amendment in the last 3 months to get rid of those deals. They have not, though, because it's easier and more politically advantageous to complain about the deals than it is to fix them.
In related news, the other health care bill that passed last night (H.R. 4872) will get rid of those special deals if the Senate also passes it. Not a single Republican in the House of Representatives voted in favor of H.R. 4872. Let's see if some Republicans in the Senate have the guts to do the right thing rather than the electorally advantageous thing.
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