The final Democratic holdout on Obamacare has announced he will be the 60th vote his party needs to get the legislation passed in the Senate. Senator Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska), who had claimed he could not vote for a health care reform bill if it did not ensure taxpayer dollars don't fund abortions seems to have given up ground on that issue in favor of bribes for his home state.

Continued...

Under the new abortion provisions added to win Senator Nelson's vote, states can opt out of allowing plans to cover abortion in insurance exchanges the bill would set up. Enrollees in plans that do cover abortion procedures would pay for the coverage with separate checks - one for abortion, one for rest of health-care services. So the bill will result in plenty of additional paperwork but not necessarily fewer taxpayer funded abortions. Way to stick to your beliefs, Senator Nelson!

What the senator did stick to is the tradition of selling one's vote in exchange for unrelated items that he undoubtedly hopes will bolster his own political career. With his vote Mr. Nelson secured full federal funding for his state to expand Medicaid coverage to all individuals below 133 percent of the federal poverty level. (Other states must pay a small portion of the additional cost.) (source)

As we wait for the Congressional Budget Office to deliver its report on how much this massive bill will cost the American people, insiders are already claiming it would be more than covered by cutting future Medicare spending and raising taxes in the health sector, including a 40 percent excise on the most expensive insurance policies. In other words, Democrats are going to pay for their latest power grab by raising taxes and cutting benefits to the elderly - no new ground broken there.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) plans to hold a first critical vote on the bill after midnight on Sunday and hopes for the final passage vote on Christmas Eve. Yet again, the Democrats are trying to sneak these votes past the American people hoping no one will notice the damage they are doing to our country.