Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid appears to have nailed down what he needs to deliver to President Obama the mother of all Christmas presents: health-care “reform” in our time.
Details are dribbling out, but one thing seems clear enough: When one is unrestrained by principle, the possibilities in politics are boundless.
For example, one need not hold strong views on abortion to be repulsed by Reid’s purchase of Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson’s soul for a mess of pottage. Nelson had opposed Reid’s bill on the grounds that it was soft on abortion, but that went by the boards as he sold his principles — and his vote — for a relative pittance in Medicaid money.
He wasn’t alone, of course.
As of yesterday, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Carl Levin of Michigan and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana have confessed to taking payoffs of one sort or another — and no doubt many more such tales will soon emerge.
Reid feels no shame.
“You’ll find a number of states that are treated differently than other states. That’s what legislating is all about. It’s compromise,” he said.
No, it’s not.
It’s bribery.
This perhaps is understandable (if not permissible) as regards a public-works appropriation bill, but it’s totally beyond the pale regarding legislation meant totally to transform one-sixth of the American economy.
Speaking practically, of course, it would be extremely difficult to pass any bill of such complexity and import if it were as opaque as this one. Nobody really knows what’s in it — and Reid ain’t talking.
Hence the resort to payoffs.
But here’s a thought:
If the Obama health-care initiative cannot stand on its own legs — and, clearly, it can’t — then should it really become law?
Of course not.