The Nightmare Before Christmas: Harry Reid’s Version Of Obama Care Passes Senate

Woke up late this morning (unusual for me) and saw Harry Reid unsurprisingly passed his version of Obama care. The final vote count was 60 Democrats voting in favor and 39 Republican (wisely and unanimously) voting against the monstrosity. Via CBC News:

The final Senate vote, which passed by 60-39 on strict party lines, needed only a simple majority to pass. This follows three procedural votes that passed this week, which needed a 60-vote win. Democrats have needed all 58 members and two Independents to pass those legislative hurdles against unanimous Republican opposition and a threatened filibuster.

Thursday morning’s vote was the Senate’s first Christmas Eve vote since 1895, when the issue was a military affairs bill concerning employment of former Confederate officers, according to the Senate Historical Office.

You can bet hell or high water, the Democrats are going to ram this through so Obama can sign this as quickly as possible.

As Democrats at the Federal level shred the Constitution and in the process are going to destroy our economy and inflict socialized medicine on everyone, the battle to stop them is shifting to the states. Via Human Events:

Sen. Ben Nelson’s “Cornhusker Kickback” for Nebraska may have given Harry Reid his coveted sixtieth vote, but it comes at a price for the other states, states that are already feeling the hammer of rising Medicaid costs.

Just coming to light is a concern that has been giving governors heartburn for months: the fact that states are going to be hit with a monstrous financial burden with the passage of Obamacare, and none are in a position to handle it. (emphasis added)

The Human Events article continues.

Ohio spends 39 percent of its state budget a year on Medicaid. Massachusetts spends 27 percent. On average, states fork over 20 percent of their annual spending on this joint state-federal program that originally began to assist women and children in poverty and the disabled.

Now Congress is considering the inclusion of a massive expansion of Medicaid in the Obamacare bill, one that will dump about 18 million Americans into a program that, according to a broad consensus, provides substandard medical coverage.  Nelson claims he urged Sen. Reid to drop the Medicaid provision, but since that is the foundation for Reid’s bill, he isn’t going to do it.  Hence Nelson’s sweetheart deal.  Exempting Nebraska won’t kill the bill.  Exempting all the states would.

Who is going to get stuck with half the price tag?  The states.  Well, the states minus Nebraska.  And probably Nevada, where Reid is trying desperately not to get the voters’ boot. (emphasis added)

What are the States doing? Many states, including Michigan are drawing up plans to challenge this program in court. Mike Cox, Michigan’s Attorney General and Republican Candidate for Governor is starting the fight for Michigan:

The top prosecutors in seven states, including Michigan, are probing the constitutionality of a political deal that cut a funding break for Nebraska in order to pass a federal health care reform bill, South Carolina’s attorney general said Tuesday.

Henry McMaster said he and his counterparts — all Republicans — in Alabama, Colorado, Michigan, North Dakota, Texas and Washington state — are jointly taking a look at the deal they’ve dubbed the “Nebraska compromise.”

“The Nebraska compromise, which permanently exempts Nebraska from paying Medicaid costs that Texas and all other 49 states must pay, may violate the United States Constitution — as well as other provisions of federal law,” said Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.

“I am astounded by the sweetheart deal handed to Nebraska, which will be paid for with money taken directly from the pockets of Michigan taxpayers,” Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox said in a statement Tuesday night. “People are outraged, and they have every right to be.” (emphasis added)

This is not the only legal challenge to this monstrosity. Another legal challenge is the Federal requirement for individuals to purchase health insurance. Via Fox News:

Two key issues seem to be attracting the bulk of the legal threats: a mandate for individuals to purchase health insurance and the special treatment that states like Nebraska are getting in the bill.

On the first issue, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., on Tuesday renewed the call to examine the constitutionality of whether the federal government can require Americans to purchase a product.

“I don’t believe Congress has the legal or moral authority to force this mandate on its citizens,” Ensign said in a statement, raising what’s known as a “constitutional point of order.” Such procedural challenges are rare and typically lead to a vote.

The non-profit Fund for Personal Liberty, as well as a Virginia-based group called the 10th Amendment Foundation, already have threatened to file suit in federal court over this issue if the health care bill passes. (emphasis added)

As the Constitution is written, the Federal Government’s powers are narrow and specifically defined.

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

This deal is unconstitutional, illegal and the clear majority of Americans don’t want it.

Merry Christmas!

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