Monday, November 30, 2009
They're calling it "the Second Louisiana Purchase".
On the eve of the 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.”... [WaPo]
And how does Congress write a law to pay a $300 million bribe, er "fix", at taxpayer expense, to purchase one vote for one party on a single issue? Here's how.
BTW, you'll remember I predicted this back when telling how "it's good to be have the power of the marginal vote".
