Late Night ObamaCare Vote Follows Nelson Scandal

1. Senate to Vote on ObamaCare at 1am Under Cover of Darkness

2. Senator Nelson, D-Nebraska, Sells His Soul to ObamaCare

1. ObamaCare Red Alert!!!
The Senate is set to vote to close debate on ObamaCare Sunday night/Monday morning at 1am. Under the cover of darkness they are planning to ram through the bill over the objections of the American people.

Recent polls have found:

Only 32% say ObamaCare is a “good idea” – NBC, 12/16
http://pollster.com/polls/us/healthplan.php
36% support, 61% oppose ObamaCare – CNN, 12/10 http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/12/10/rel18h.pdf

Some of the main problems with the bill:

1) Increases overall costs. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis says this bill will drive up premiums for every person that currently buys health insurance.

2) The bill cuts hundreds of billions in Medicare funding including its most efficient program, Medicare Advantage.

3) The bill forces every American to buy insurance that meets the standards set by a Health and Human Services commission or face fines and imprisonment.

4) Every American will be required to file proof of acceptable health insurance with the IRS when taxes are paid each year. (This is the enforcement mechanism of the requirement to buy insurance)

5) Uses taxpayer money to fund elective abortion and does not provide employment protection for health professionals that refuse to participate in abortions.

See detailed analysis: http://blog.aul.org/2009/12/19/legal-analysis-of-life-concerns-in-managers-amendment/6)

The bill does not start giving any benefits until 2014 although the new taxes start right away. (This delay of benefits was designed to make the bill look less expensive in the CBO 10 year cost analysis of the bill)

7) Includes a hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes and creates over 100 NEW government entities.

>>> WHAT GOV HUCKABEE IS DOING:
Governor Huckabee is the keynote speaker at a major rally against ObamaCare TODAY (Sunday) in Omaha, Nebraska.

The rally will be held at the Omaha Music Hall, 17th and Capitol. Doors open at 2 PM. Rally starts at 3 PM.

Nebraska Democrat, Senator Ben Nelson has caved in his opposition to the Senate Health Care bill. Nelson's surrender paves the way for Senate passage of the bill sometime this week. This rally will put huge pressure on Nelson to drop his support.

Learn more: http://huckpac.com/?Fuseaction=Blogs.View&Blog_id=2926
>>>
WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1) TODAY: Attend the rally in Omaha, NE with Gov. Huckabee. Take pictures & video and share them with info@hucksarmy.com

2) Forward this email to your friends

3) Sign Huckabee’s JUST SAY NO petition to Senator Nelson: http://huckpac.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=Petitions.Home&Petition_id=11

4) Call and email as many members of both the Senate and House today and everyday and let them know that you don’t support ObamaCare. Feel free to cite the some of the reason’s included in this message. Contact info: http://contactingthecongress.org

5) Check in with http://huckpac.com and http://hucksarmy.com for updates throughout the day

6) Share, tweet, post, etc the contents of this email with your friends…especially the parts about the harms of ObamaCare

Let’s roll!--------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Nelson Accused of Selling Vote on Health Bill for Nebraska Pay-Off

What started as Sen. Ben Nelson's personal stand against covering abortion with taxpayer money translated, somehow, into millions of dollars in federal aid for his home state -- drawing criticism that his vote was bought.

The Nebraska Democrat, following weeks of negotiations with his caucus, finally agreed to back the Senate's health care reform bill this weekend after Democratic leaders made a series of concessions. Nelson's support gives Democrats the 60 votes they need to overcome a filibuster, barring any last-minute defections.

But critics by Sunday were heavily questioning Nelson's motivations, given that the abortion restrictions he sought and won did not satisfy several major anti-abortion lawmakers and groups and that it took a major federal payoff to his state to seal the deal.

Critics were calling it the "cornhusker kickback" and the "Nebraska windfall," lobbing accusations of political deal-making at Nelson.

"It's pretty obvious votes have been bought," Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., said.

Nelson did win restrictions on abortion coverage, which is what he sought for weeks. Under the compromise, states would be permitted to ban insurance coverage of abortions in policies sold in the exchanges, except in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is in jeopardy. In states where such coverage is permitted, consumers must notify their insurance company they want it, and pay for it separately.

That didn't do much to please some anti-abortion lawmakers. But Nelson also won several other concessions, most notably a commitment from the federal government to fully fund his state's expanded Medicaid population. All states get full federal assistance for the first three years of the bill -- but Nebraska would be the only state getting full assistance afterward. One Democratic official put the cost to the federal government at $45 million over a decade.

Democratic senators defended the Nebraska deal. Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said all states get a lot of federal aid for Medicaid anyway, and that special treatment is hardly unique to Nebraska.

"Personally, every state gets some kind of differential treatment based on their situation," he told "Fox News Sunday."

"People fight for their own states. That's the nature of a democracy," said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.

But Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Nelson's victory came at the expense of the other 49 states.

"That puts an added burden on all the other states, including mine," he said on "Fox News Sunday."

The concessions didn't end there. Nelson also got an exemption from a fee on non-profit health insurers -- the language was written in a way that only applies to Nebraska and Michigan.

Plus an extra tax on tanning was added, along with an increase in the Medicare payroll tax for those making more than $200,000.

The Nelson deal came shortly after Democratic leaders had to forego a government-run insurance plan, and a proposed expansion of Medicare eligibility, to win over Independent Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman.

McCain suggested the Obama administration wouldn't be in such a position if it had governed in a more bipartisan way.

"That's why they're in the position of having to purchase the last vote or two," McCain said.

Fox News' Trish Turner and The Associated Press contributed to this report.