What Baucus and Nelson Got for the Folks Back Home from Daily Kos

 by mcjoan http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/12/21/817589/-What-Baucus-and-Nelson-Got-for-the-Folks-Back-Home?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

What a victory for the American people! But particularly for the people of Libby, Montana (and they needed one) and Nebraska. Here's the Montana angle:

WASHINGTON — Buried in the deal-clinching health care package that Senate Democrats unveiled over the weekend is an inconspicuous proposal expanding Medicare to cover certain victims of "environmental health hazards."

The intended beneficiaries are identified in a cryptic, mysterious way: individuals exposed to environmental health hazards recognized as a public health emergency in a declaration issued by the federal government on June 17.

And who might those individuals be? It turns out they are people exposed to asbestos from a vermiculite mine in Libby, Mont.

For a decade, Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, has been trying to get the government to help them. He is in a position to deliver now because he is chairman of the Finance Committee and a principal author of the health care bill.

Which is not to argue that what happened in Libby wasn't an environmental and human disaster, and that the people of Libby don't desparately need the help. But it sure does help to be chairman, huh? It shows the degree to which these bills come as opportunities for folks who like to rail about "earmarks" and bemoan politics as usual in D.C. take advantage of bringing some legislative love to the folks back home.

But nothing compares to Ben Nelson's deal:

Nebraska will receive $100 million in assistance for its state Medicaid program under provisions negotiated by Sen. Ben Nelson (D) in the Senate's healthcare reform bill.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) informed lawmakers on Sunday night that the section of the manager's amendment to the Senate's health bill would cost $1.2 billion over 10 years....

"Well, you know, look, I didn't ask for a special favor here. I didn't ask for a carve-out," Nelson said. "What I said is the governor of Nebraska has contacted me, he said publicly he's having trouble with the budget. This will add to his budget woes. And I said, look, we have to have that fixed."

Whoo-doggie, that's an interesting contrast to his "I just can't support his budget-busting bill" prior to getting his $100 million for the state. I guess that's the going price for principle these days. But he could teach progressives a thing or two about how to negotiate. Hold your breath long enough and they give you everything you want.