Obamacare

Obamacare is once again in the news or I should say has never been out of the news. When Nancy Pelosi said we have to pass it to find out what is in it, she didn’t realize how prophetic she was. As each new part of the plan is revealed it is followed by more controversy. The bill of course was destined for trouble as it was formulated behind closed doors and the final passage was stained with the payoff to Senator Land rue. For those of you who don’t remember the incident. On the eve of Saturday’s showdown in the Senate over health-care reform, Democratic leaders still hadn’t secured the support of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), one of the 60 votes needed to keep the legislation alive. The wavering lawmaker was offered a sweetener: at least $100 million in extra federal money for her home state. And so it came to pass that Landrieu walked onto the Senate floor midafternoon Saturday to announce her aye vote — and to trumpet the financial “fix” she had arranged for Louisiana. “I am not going to be defensive,” she declared. “And it’s not a $100 million fix. It’s a $300 million fix.” Not one Republican voted for the bill and this added to the controversy. In contrast the final passage of Medicare in 1965 had 57 democrats for and 7 against and 13 republicans for and 17 against. This is considered true bi-partisanship and gives the bill a good send off. In the house 70 republicans voted for the bill.