Capitol Hill Compromises-Also Known As Bribery Everywhere Else

There are some serious issues happening on Capitol Hill that require being addressed. The acts of this Congress are hypocritical at best, and can be construed to be criminal in a number of different circumstances if they were not happening in the scope of the public office. If that is not enough, we have a president flying off to Hawaii for Christmas at the expense of the American taxpayer while the rest of us get ugotz, which is the Italian slang for nothing.

Bribery, overt and blatant, has occurred in the Senate recently. Senator Ben Nelson, Democratic Senator for Nebraska, was given 100% funding for the Medicaid expansion in his state. The other 49 states are going to have to fit the bill for Nebraska for the “indefinite future”. No other state received such assistance, just Nebraska for a YES vote on the healthcare legislation.

So let us define what a bribe is, for those of you not from Youngstown or those who are just curious on the legal definition.

Bribery: noun. “Something, such as money or a favor, offered or given to a person in a position of trust to influence that person's views or conduct.”

Used in a sentence: “When Senator Harry Reid bribed Senator Ben Nelson with taxpayer dollars to pass healthcare reform in the Senate, he was not found guilty of bribery like everyone else under state and federal statute.”

How this situation is legal and how practically every other situation involving the exchange of money to influence someone else is illegal does not really make a lot of sense. Is this to say it is okay to bribe someone else as long as the money IS NOT YOURS???

According to Harry Reid, “You’ll find a number of states are treated differently than other states,” Reid said after he unveiled the bill. “That’s what legislation is all about. It’s compromise.”

Well Senator Reid, how about we define what a compromise is?

Compromise: noun. “A settlement of differences in which each side makes concessions”.

So, the compromise made in the Senate was to give Senator Ben Nelson a complete exemption from paying costs associated with the implementation of this new healthcare plan in certain aspects in return for his support of the legislation itself. In simpler terms, I will pay you money if you concede your vote.

That seems more in line with the definition of a bribe rather than a compromise. Compromise can occur with the language of the legislation. Such as, “If you will include the language for limiting funds for abortion in the new system, I will support the inclusion of the public option language”. Perhaps very general and broad, but you get the idea. No money or costs are exchanged with a compromise, because compromises are based on concessions, not payouts.

The same thinking can go with Senator Mary Landrieu from Louisiana who sold her support for a $300 million buyout for Medicaid cost reductions. There was no compromise in that situation, just a payoff for support of the legislation.

This kind of behavior is disturbing, and 97 other Senators should be beating the war drum right now. With the exception of the Harry Reid who was integral in making the two bribes happen, and Senators Nelson and Landrieu who received the bribes, everyone else in the Senate got ugotz, just like the American people.

Maybe in the future, people who are on trial can use the behavior in the Senate as precedent that all bribes can now be construed as compromises and hence are perfectly legal.

The Mang
Conservative Capo of Youngstown