Tax Lawyer's Blog

Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska yesterday agreed to vote for the Senate healthcare reform bill only if one of it’s provisions did not apply to his own state.

Here’s what William Jacobson of Le-gal In-sur-rec-tion says about the odorous deal:

While Nebraskans will get new Medicaid mandates covered by the federal government, most other states will sink under the weight of new unfunded mandates. Here’s how Nebraska’s Governor described the problem before Nelson struck his bargain:

“The State of Nebraska cannot afford an unfunded mandate and uncontrolled spending of this magnitude.”

Will Nebraskans be proud of Nelson’s tactics, or ashamed that Nelson has turned Nebraska into a beggar state relying on others to pay Nebraska’s way?

Will Nebraskans sit back in quiet satisfaction knowing that Nebraska has been saved from further unfunded mandates, while other states crumble, or feel like the proverbial person who lay down with dogs and got up with fleas?

Do Nebraskans care that the rest of the nation is furious over this backroom deal, and that a state known for integrity and hard work has had its reputation tarnished? Nebraska and Louisiana now are spoken of in the same breath.

If Nelson believes that unfunded mandates are a bad thing for Americans residing within his own state’s borders, how can he with a clear conscience vote to have those same mandates apply to Americans residing without those borders?

The answer, of course, is obvious: Senator Nelson doesn’t care about non-Nebraskan Americans because non-Nebraskan Americans don’t have the power to vote him out of office.

Change you can believe in?

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