More info at grassrootsne.com

Gov. Heineman Speaks

via doctor! doctor!, at NRO

Trouble Brews In Nebraska   [Robert Costa]

Nelson did it all for Nebraska, right? Seems like the governor doesn’t see it that way:

Gov. Dave Heineman today made the following comment regarding Sen. Ben Nelson’s statements on the so-called Reid-Nelson amendment. Sen. Nelson is reported as saying, “Well, you know, look, I didn’t ask for a special favor here. I didn’t ask for a carve out. What I said is the Governor of Nebraska has contacted me, he said publicly he’s having trouble with the budget and this will add to the budget woes. And I said, look, we have to have this fixed.”

Gov. Heineman’s statement follows:

“Nebraskans did not ask for a special deal, only a fair deal.  Under no circumstances did I have anything to do with Senator Nelson’s compromise.  I, along with Governors all across America, have expressed concern about the unfunded Medicaid mandate.  I have said all along that this bill is bad news for Nebraska and bad news for America.  Additionally, I criticized Senator Reid when he got a special deal for Nevada that didn’t apply uniformly to all states.  Senator Nelson negotiated this special deal, rather than a fair deal for both Nebraska and America.  The responsibility for this special deal lies solely on the shoulders of Senator Ben Nelson.”

Heineman has been a pleasant surprise as Governor, but there is one thing about him that really, really bothers me.   He accepts federal funds – Stimulus funds, in particular – a little too readily.  I’m not sure he has the courage to back a state sovereignty resolution, or anything to do with the Tenth Amendment.

Reactions to Nelson’s sell-out

Publius, at Big Government, writes:

We’ll be blunt. The ‘health care reform’ legislation under consideration in the Senate is the most corrupt piece of legislation in our nation’s history. Yes, we understand that is a strong statement and there have been other abominations throughout our nation’s life. But never before did corrupt legislation threaten to radically and forever change the live’s of every American

Exhibit A is the outright bribe extracted by Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Corn Huckster State) from Sen. Harry Reid. As a result of Nelson’s performance in his role of Hamlet in the health care deliberations, we will have two health care systems in this country; one for Nebraska and one for the other 49 states.

[snip]

Outrageous doesn’t do justice to describe this situation. Sen. Nelson also secured an exemption from a new insurance tax for non-profit companies in his state. Mutual of Omaha and Nebraska’s Blue Cross/Blue Shield won’t have to pay a tax other companies will be required to pay.

At The Weekly Standard,  James C. Capretta and Yuval Levin compare Nelson’s actions to his words.  The result:  Nelson’s professed concerns over the abortion language in HarryCare was bullshit.   

Senator Nelson is touting the fact that states can enact laws which prohibit elective abortions in the exchanges (the so-called “opt out”), but that was already permissible under the previous Reid language. And in any event a state can’t protect its taxpayers from financing abortions beyond its borders. Senator Nelson’s “compromise” leaves Nebraska’s voters entirely vulnerable to paying for California’s and New York’s abortions.

 Ben Nelson either lied to Nebraskans, or he is an idiot who was suckered by Harry Reid.

Confirmed: Ben Nelson sells out Nebraska. Again. UPDATED: Nelson sold out pro-lifers for an extra year of federal Medicaid subsidies

via Michelle Malkin.

But hey, that doesn’t mean he can’t change his mind later.

Liar.

UPDATE:  Hot Air has details, plus the amendment that will be rammed through today.

ANOTHER UPDATE:  It just keeps getting better.  Nelson Agrees to Abortion Funding in at Least 13 States?  [H/T: Riehl World]

Wonder if any other Senators will have second thoughts in order to pull a Nelson and gain concessions (as in $$$$) for their state?

Wonder what it would take to amend the Nebraska Constitution in order to give us the right to recall this s.o.b.?

The Progressive Cancer in Nebraska

Don Walton has been a busy boy over at the Lincoln Journal Star. 

First, he writes about an insurance company “whistleblower”, but neglects to mention they guy’s connection to leftist advocacy group Media & Democracy.  Not an unusual omission, as NewsBusters demonstrates.

Then, a puff-pieced about Jane Kleeb’s efforts to move us knuckle-dragging, redneck Nebraskans beyond our “singular political philosophy and dogma.”

“We are building a progressive infrastructure,” Kleeb says. “We’ve had a fundamentally narrow and one-sided view of issues here.”

One-party dominance and a conservative news media speak essentially with the same voice, she says.

“It’s about time Nebraska has more political conversations. “It’s time we had a more balanced view.”

The Omaha Weird-Herald and Lincoln Journal Star are “conservative news media”?

Progressive, liberal, leftist — nothing but synonyms for LIARS.  Keep this in mind:

Jane Kleeb is the state director of Change That Works, originally funded by SEIU, the Service Employees International Union.

The organization chose to target 12 states with members of Congress who “often determine legislative outcomes.”

On health care, Change That Works is tied to Health Care For America Now, which is yet another “grassroots coalition” of unions and leftist advocacy groups.  In other words, the usual small group of well-financed suspects, employing the same old lies and bullying tactics in order to impose their own singular political philosophy and dogma. 

Big Government stories on HCAN

Red State reporting on HCAN

Keep an eye out for the various Nebraska incarnations of Change That Works, which is simply another offshoot of the progressive web of deception smothering the country:

Bold Nebraska
Nebraska Appleseed Center
Center for Rural Affairs
New Nebraska Network
Prairie Fire (which advertises regularly in NebraskaLand)

Nelson sells out? [UPDATED]

The latest from Washington: Nelson sells out?  Who the hell knows, given the perpetual stream of lies flowing from D.C.  Nonetheless, there are reports of ”progress” made overnight, and Harry Reid claims he’ll unveil a revised piece of crap today.  Whatever changes have been made appear to be to the liking of Nelson.  In addition to abortion funding…

Officials said he was also seeking to ease the impact of a proposed insurance industry tax on nonprofit companies, as well as win more federal funds to cover Nebraska’s cost of treating patients in Medicaid, the state-federal health care program for the poor. These officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks, said the administration and Democratic leaders had offered concessions on those points.

There you go.  If Nelson can pay back some of his larger donors, and funnel more federal dollars back home to Nebraska, all will be well.  Doesn’t that make you feel better about his latest sell-out?

More thoughts on this at NRO’s blog, Doctor! Doctor!  Start at the top, and keep scrolling.  Plenty of excellent info and insight.

From Politico, via Doctor! Doctor!

Nelson may not signal his support for the deal publicly. But Senate Democratic aides say if Reid introduces the amendment Saturday, he has been reasonably assured that he has 60 votes to break a series of Republican filibusters next week. There is a chance Reid could still move ahead without private assurances, but that is widely considered a very high-risk strategy.

More on Nelson’s Suicide Mission from the John Fund at WSJ (H/T: Doctor! Doctor!)

Majority Leader Harry Reid is scrambling to make a deal, any deal, that will bring Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson over as the 60th and deciding vote on health care. Why is Mr. Nelson playing so hard to get? It’s a mixture of principle and politics.

So far his party’s leaders have been unable to come up with any language limiting federal insurance support for abortions that he finds acceptable. Nebraska groups opposing abortion have called all the proposed compromise language a sham.

Mr. Nelson also has other objections on “substantive issues,” namely, I’m told, that he doesn’t think the bill fits together coherently and he considers its flaws serious enough that Congress would have to revisit the bill as early as next year.

Inevitably, politics also plays a role. In a new Tarrance Group poll, 61% of Nebraskans say they would be “less likely” to vote for Mr. Nelson if he supports the Reid health care bill. Mr. Nelson’s own personal approval rating has reached perilous levels for an incumbent, having dropped to 51%. He also faces a flock of potentially strong GOP challengers, including popular state Treasurer Shane Osborne and any of the state’s three Republican Congressmen.

The election calendar is another worry. The Reid bill closely resembles the 2006 health reform in Massachusetts, and it’s likely that many of the distortions in coverage and premium escalations we’ve seen in Massachusetts would be showing up nationally by 2012 if the Reid plan becomes law. But the plan’s benefits wouldn’t kick in until 2013 or 2014 at the earliest. That leaves Mr. Nelson trapped politically. The Tarrance poll finds that fully 90% of Nebraskans say they are satisfied with their health care. If that number were to be substantially lower in 2012, you can bet who’d get the blame — a Democratic senator in a state that consistently votes Republican in national elections. In addition, his eventual opponent would have a field day tagging Mr. Nelson as the final and decisive vote in passing the health care legislation.

Another factor, Nelson genuinely supports and likes Obama.  I’m sure he does not want to the be one to torpedo what the W.H. has built up to be Obama’s central issue.  If health care fails, Obama’s entire presidency is fails.  At least that’s been the message throughout this ordeal.  (Thought I read about this at NRO, but haven’t been able to locate the post yet.  Will add it when I find it.)

Are there other potential holdouts?  Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Jim Webb (D-VA) have been mentioned (see IBD article here; H/T Doctor! Doctor!).  Neither has committed to voting yes.  Are they waiting to see what it takes to buy Nelson’s vote?  Are they wanting to get a better deal for themselves?  There are some dangerous precedents being set here.

Based on Nelson’s principles for health care reform, it shouldn’t be a close call

The spotlight continues to shine on Ben Nelson.  Interesting comments at National Review.  While federally funded abortion continues to receive the most attention, there is much more in the legislation that runs counter to Nelson’s stated principles for healthcare reform.

James Capretta was 100% correct when he wrote that For Nelson, It Shouldn’t Be a Close Call. 

But, just as importantly, Senator Nelson made it clear in the same radio interview that his concerns with the Reid bill go well beyond protecting taxpayers from financing elective abortions — as they should. Senator Nelson considers himself to be a fiscal conservative too. The Reid bill provides a ready opportunity to prove that he actually is.

[snip]

Senator Nelson is clearly uncomfortable with the bill as written. Any fiscal conservative would be. It’s not a close call. As the senator said yesterday, the country would be far better off with a more scaled-back bill. He’s right about that. And it’s in his power to deliver just such a bill. Pushing the discussions into 2010 would not end the health-care debate. It would only make it more likely the Senate voted in the end for something the public — and Nebraskans — would find acceptable.

W.H. Threats to Close Offutt Legit?

Little time to post today, but keep a close eye on Ben Nelson as tension continues to escalate. 

Nelson denied receiving threats from the WH.  Also denied the offer of a blank check.  Given the history of this administration, I think Nelson is lying, for whatever reason.  And the White House is increasingly desperate.

20 GOP Senators Call for Investigation of Offutt Threat

Twenty Republican senators have requested that the Senate Armed Services Committee launch an investigation into reports that the Obama White House threatened to close Nebraska’s Offutt Air Force base unless Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson fell into line on health care. Those reports first appeared on this blog. In the letter to Senators Levin and McCain, the committee chairman and ranking member, the 20 ask that “a hearing be held as to whether the BRAC process has been compromised.”

Meanwhile, both Nelson and the White House strenuously deny the allegation. A statement from White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer asserts “This rumor is absolutely false, as the people spreading it well know. This is nothing but a cynical, crass political game that is designed to maintain the status quo. Let’s be clear: the people spreading these falsehoods think nothing is wrong with a system under which families and businesses continue to bear the brunt of skyrocketing costs, insurance companies are allowed to discriminate and drop at will, and thousands of Americans lose their coverage every single day.”

They protest a little too much. I do not know this story is “absolutely false.” To the contrary, I’m confident it’s true. Twenty senators are now calling for an investigation, and each is presumably pretty well sourced in the Senate. If the charges are “absolutely false,” maybe the White House will encourage Senate Democrats to call this Republican bluff. I won’t hold my breath.

What is absolutely true is that the threat itself is clumsy. The Base Realignment and Closure Process won’t get started again for a couple of years, and Offutt is a nearly irreplaceable piece of America’s national security infrastructure. Still, this White House does sometimes see national security issues in terms of jobs created or saved. They’re closing Gitmo and moving hardened al Qaeda terrorists into your neighborhood? Don’t worry, that’s 3,000 jobs created or saved. You’re not going to vote for health care? That’s 11,000 jobs your state just lost!

The desperation of the White House — caving to Lieberman, threatening Nelson, attacking Dean — is what’s most striking. This is not the behavior of a team assured of their position and confident in the outcome. This is the behavior of team that is standing “on the precipice,” and about to fall into a ravine. And Nelson still hasn’t said he will vote for the bill.

Ben Nelson Feeling the Heat?

From The Weekly Standard: NE Polls Shows More Trouble for Health Care?

A poll conducted by the Tarrance Group over the past two days helps explain why Senator Ben Nelson is nervous about supporting even a modified Harry Reid-version of health care reform. The poll interviewed 500 registered “likely voters” in Nebraska and asked for their views on a range of issues, including health care reform. Among the findings:

*51 percent of those surveyed approve of the way Nelson is handling his job; 41 percent disapprove and nine percent are unsure

*Asked to name the most important one issue facing Congress, 28 percent said “health care reform;” 23 percent said “deficit spending of the government;” 14 percent said “the economy;” 11 percent said “jobs;” and 7 percent said “taxes.” All told, 55 percent pointed to an economic issue as most important, 28 percent said health care reform.

*90 percent of Nebraskans said they were satisfied with their current health care; 9 percent were unsatisfied

*Asked how much they’ve heard about the current health care reform debate, 68 percent said “a lot,” 26 percent said “some,” and 4 percent said “a little.”

*Asked “do you favor or oppose President Obama’s plan to expand health care coverage to most Americans even if this plan increases the role of the federal government in health care and increases the cost of the deficit?” 67 percent opposed, 26 percent favored, and 7 percent were unsure.

*Respondents were asked directly about Nelson’s vote. “As you may know, there is likely to be a vote soon in the US Senate on President Obama’s health care plan. If Senator Ben Nelson votes in favor of this plan, would that make you more likely or les likely to support Senator Nelson when he runs for re-election?” 26 percent said “more likely;” 61 percent said “less likely;” 7 percent said “unsure;” and 6 percent said “no difference.”

* * * * * *

And from National Review:  Nelson Under Fire In Nebraska

Sen. Ben Nelson (D., Neb.) is feeling the heat in his home state. A new Tarrance Group poll finds 61 percent of Nebraskans “less likely” to support Nelson in his 2012 reelection bid if he votes for Obamacare. Democrats, sensing trouble in the Cornhusker State, recently enlisted Bob Kerrey, the state’s former governor, to lobby Nelson off the fence.

TIME reports that Kerrey knows what it’s like to be the deciding vote on a big-time bill:

Back in 1993, Kerrey was the final vote that Bill Clinton needed to pass his economic plan. The relationship between the two still carried the strain of their campaign against each other in the Democratic primary the year before. In one of the oddest moments of the cliffhanger in 1993, Kerrey simply went missing. He strolled out of the Senate Chamber to go see a movie. (Trivia buffs will know that it was “What’s Love Got to Do With It?,” the Tina Turner biopic that was playing at nearby Union Station.)

While Kerrey calls, two senior Nebraska Republicans are publicly calling on Nelson to vote “no” on Obamacare. Sen. Mike Johanns (R., Neb.) tells National Review Online that he’s “never seen Nebraska so fired up” against an issue. “Bob Kerrey certainly hasn’t called me,” laughs Johanns. “Senator Nelson knows that 85 to 90 percent of this state is against this bill. Although he’s not up for reelection for three years, he knows the sense of the people. In every town hall, the message is the same: defeat this bill.” Nelson, adds Johanns, “knows that the majority of Nebraska is pro-life” and, he hopes, will “not retreat in his fight with Democratic leadership on that issue.”

Gov. Dave Heineman (R., Neb.) agrees. He says that Obamacare is “bad news for Nebraska” and that the Senate’s health-care bill is “not the answer.” In a letter to Nelson, he writes: “You are now the 60th vote, and as Governor of the State that we both represent, I urge you to vote against this bill and against cloture.”