Posts Tagged ben nelson

The Cornhusker Kickback is Dead

Jan 15

Posted by Parched in DC, U.S. Senate | No Comments

The pressure brought by state attorneys general appears to have worked.  The Cornhusker Kickback is dead.  From Roll Call:

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) on Friday asked that a deal he secured for his state on Medicaid funding be removed from the health care reform bill, a move that follows weeks of unrelenting political blowback.

Nelson contends that a $100 million deal he extracted for Nebraska in December to pay the state’s cost of a proposed Medicaid expansion was misunderstood. He said it was intended to act as a placeholder to ensure that all states received similar treatment once negotiations to reconcile the House and Senate bills commenced.

But after weeks of criticism from Nebraskans and fellow Democratic Senators and a backlash that extended nationwide for a deal that came to be known as the “Cornhusker Kickback,” Nelson on Friday sent a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) asking him to strip the provision from the reform bill.

In his letter, Nelson asks that the Nebraska-only measure be replaced with one that would exempt all states from paying the cost of a proposed Medicaid expansion. However, his letter appears to make clear that regardless of whether that request is granted, he wants the provision affecting Nebraska removed.

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White House Denies AGs Concerns on Cornhusker Kickback (video)

Jan 6

Posted by Parched in DC, In the states | No Comments

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs dismissed out of hand any concerns that a bipartisan group of state attorneys general have over the Cornhusker Kickback at yesterday’s morning press briefing.  According the CNS News, Gibbs dismissed any constitutional concerns had by the Democrat and Republican state attorneys general saying:

I do not believe that anybody has legitimate constitutional concerns about the legislation.

Gibbs went on to say that he had not even bothered to read the lengthy 2 page letter.

Wait, what?

How can Robert Gibbs speak to the concerns of these state A.G.s if he hasn’t even taken the time to read the letter – which incidentally isn’t some tightly guarded secret – you can read it yourself right here.  That’s right – the White House isn’t interested in a dialogue on this issue – they’ll just act like they’re not aware of any concerns and hope it gets rammed through.

Yes, the White House just doesn’t think this is a big deal.  Watch for yourself.

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Dems beginning to join opposition to Cornhusker Kickback

Jan 5

Posted by Parched in DC, In the states, U.S. Senate | 1 Comment

The Daily Oklahoman quietly reported on its editorial page that Democrat attorney general Drew Edmondson was “on board” with the effort to sniff out the constitutionality of the Cornhusker Kickback back on January 2nd.  That news will probably be nationwide today – compelling more state attorneys general to weigh in as well on this simmering issue – since  South Carolina papers picked up the story this morning, as did the CNS news service.  You can expect to see this information to become part of the “state A.G.s vs. the U.S. Senator” narrative immediately with the national press.  It seems that the stock Democrat response of these top lawyers opposing this aspect of the measure as unconstitutional as just politics is being flushed away.  We’ve heard there are a great number of state A.G.s concerned about this – it’s just a matter of time before more of them break ranks.

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Cornhusker Kickback/Nebraska Compromise

Jan 4

Posted by Parched in DC, U.S. Senate | No Comments

It’s 100% astounding that Democrat U.S. Senator Ben Nelson thought a good way to get the state attorneys general to back off of their mission of stomping the Cornhusker Kickback would be to have the federal government pick up the Medicaid tab to all 50 states.  Truly, not in touch with the economic and political realities of what’s happening in the U.S.  From Politico:

The document goes on to say: “Senator Nelson said it would be ‘fixed’ by extending the Cornhusker Kickback (100% federal payment) on Medicaid to every state.”

Senate Democratic leaders have made no reference to a plan to expand the Nebraska deal to the remaining 49 states — a move that would be prohibitively expensive to the federal government and raise serious questions about whether health reform would lower the expected federal deficit, as President Barack Obama claims it would.

At the same time, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said after the Nebraska deal came to light that he envisions other states lining up to seek a similar deal down the road. Under the Nebraska provision, all added expenses from expanding Medicaid to cover the uninsured in Nebraska starting in 2017 would be borne by the federal government forever, not split with the state as they are now.

According to the memo, McMaster responded to Nelson by saying that the goal of the GOP attorneys general was to remove the Nebraska Medicaid provision from the bill and that “he saw no way that he—nor any of the state attorneys general—will support extension of the Cornhusker Kickback to every state nor be a part of a deal like that.”

Senator Nelson can’t be feeling good about his situation right now.  It’s already clear that voters aren’t feeling good about what he’s done.  A recent Rasmussen survey has Senator Nelson getting just 30% of the vote in a hypothetical ‘12 U.S. Senate match up against Republican governor Dave Heineman.   Heck, only 17% of Nebraskans even approve of the deal he cut with Harry Reid on this one.  And 64% of Nebraskans oppose the health care legislation.

Nah, not feeling good at all…unless you’re a Republican with eyes on that U.S. Senate seat there in Nebraska.

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UPDATE: Nebraska Compromise

Dec 28

Posted by Parched in In the states | No Comments

3 quick tidbits for you:

From Georgia from before Christmas via the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

Georgia’s Republican leadership asked the state’s attorney general Wednesday to investigate the legality of last-minute deals made in Washington to ensure Senate passage of health care reform.

In letters to Thurbert Baker, U.S. Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson and Gov. Sonny Perdue asked Georgia’s top legal authority to determine whether the vote-buying deals were unconstitutional – and financially unfair to Georgia.

The Republicans, according to Perdue’s letter, request Baker to join seven other attorneys general “to explore the availability of any legal challenges that Georgia could pursue to oppose this unconscionable scenario.”

“Congress appears to be on the cusp of making a decision that will have ripple effects for decades to come,” Perdue wrote. “Now is the time to ensure that any decision that is made has been thoroughly vetted and deemed to meet the intent and spirit of our country’s Constitution.”

And a similar situation with Connecticut’s governor coming from the Hartford Courant’s Capitol Watch Blog (and again from before Christmas):

Rell wrote a letter to Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal regarding a provision inserted into the massive federal legislation that would fully fund Medicaid for the home state of Senator Ben Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat. The provision has been widely reported as part of the many deals struck to reach a compromise on health care.

Across the country, attorneys general in at least seven states are voicing similar concerns about the Nebraska compromise and questioning its legality.

And lastly South Carolina A.G. Henry McMaster, the A.G. who has drawn America’s attention to the Nebraska Compromise told Fox News (there’s video you can watch):

“We think that represents corruption,” McMaster said during an interview on Fox News. “We’re concerned about it. It will cost 49 states money to have to pay Nebraska’s share. We think that is unconstitutional.”

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