The Mary Landrieu $300 Million Payoff

Senator Mary Landrieu (LA) took $300 million in aid for her state in exchange for her vote to bring so-called heath care reform to the Senate floor. She is proud of this.

She is wrong! Health care reform is not a penny ante issue. It is an attempt to change our entire health care system in order to fix some of its defects. It is a major encroachment of government to our personal lives, a serious threat to freedom and a threat to the economy of the United States. It is a fraud if for no other reason than its cost is so hugely understated that it defies logic as to why even its most ardent supporter would support it.

Basically, the budget for this plan includes ten years of revenue and savings but only about six years of costs. This would be like an individual who received a small inheritance adding this to his annual income and committing himself to a very large mortgage based on an income that will not be continued into the future. The rule is that you cannot use one-time money to support ongoing costs. Everyone knows this.

Back to Mary Landrieu. She traded her vote to support a further discussion of bill that is completely irresponsible and threatens the entire United States economy. This was not some small matter that was negotiated among senators to allocate funds in an ordinary budget. This was a matter of principle, and she has failed.

One caveat with one corollary: If she intends, in the end, to vote against health care reform (which only she knows), then I, for one, withdraw this criticism. The corollary is that there is not some undisclosed deal that Landrieu will ultimately vote against the reform bill (vindicating her vote sale), but other senators (who have not received a similar payoff) are not now planning to vote for the bill in exchange for a similar payoff.

Compicated isn't it. Sadly we have to entertain these suspicions because the Congress is engaged in dirty business.