Thursday, January 28, 2010

As Hollywood says, any mention of your name is good.

Just how much notoriety has Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) earned for the backroom deal he secured in exchange for his support of health care reform legislation?
Here's a clue: Ethics laws are now being introduced with his name in the title.
A bill has been submitted to the Tennessee General Assembly entitled the "Ben Nelson Act to Ensure Political Integrity." Sponsored by Republicans in the state legislature, the measure would qualify as bribery the trading of a vote for special favors in a lawmaker's district.
The reference, naturally, is to Nelson's support for health care legislation in exchange for additional federal assistance with Nebraska's Medicaid costs. In the past, bringing home the pork used to be a generally-accepted practice. On occasion, lawmakers took pride in how many legislative gifts they could secure for their constituents.

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