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PrintNovember 22, 2009
What does a senate vote on health care reform cost these days?
Well, if you're Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, the wages of sin just got pretty darned expensive, as Jonathan Karl at ABC News reports:
On page 432 of the Reid bill, there is a section increasing federal Medicaid subsidies for "certain states recovering from a major disaster."One vote, $100 million. After all, it's not like they're spending real money. As long as Harry Reid and the Democrats have their grubby little hands on the government printing press, they can manufacturer as much fake money as their blackhearts desire.
The section spends two pages defining which "states" would qualify, saying, among other things, that it would be states that "during the preceding 7 fiscal years" have been declared a "major disaster area."
I am told the section applies to exactly one state: Louisiana, the home of moderate Democrat Mary Landrieu, who has been playing hard to get on the health care bill.
In other words, the bill spends two pages describing would could be written with a single world: Louisiana. (This may also help explain why the bill is long.)
Senator Harry Reid, who drafted the bill, cannot pass it without the support of Louisiana's Mary Landrieu.
How much does it cost? According to the Congressional Budget Office: $100 million.
So looking at it from Harry Reid's point of view, Landrieu's vote cost nothing at all. Just another hundred million dollars that taxpayers - someday - are going to have to pay for.
Hat Tip: Ed Lasky
