Mary Landrieu - $300 Million

Mary Landrieu is loving the spotlight. She clearly loves being courted.

Video.


From Roll Call:

In her remarks, Landrieu explained her decision by saying that her vote “should in no way be construed ... as an indication of how I might vote as this debate comes to an end.”

Landrieu thanked Lincoln for pressing Reid to allow a 72-hour review period between the release of the bill on Wednesday evening and the vote Saturday night, noting she has used that time to decide that there are “enough reforms and safeguards in this bill to move forward, but much more work needs to be done.”

To help secure her vote, Reid also included a provision in the bill sought by Landrieu to provide increased Medicaid funds for states recovering from major disasters such as 2005’s Hurricane Katrina that devastated New Orleans and parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

Landrieu defended the inclusion of the provision and said Republican critics who accuse her of selling her vote for $100 million are wrong and that she has the support of Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

“I will correct something. It’s not $100 million, it’s $300 million, and I’m proud of it and will keep fighting for it,” Landrieu told reporters after her floor speech. “But that is not why I started this health care debate; I started this health care debate for all the reasons I just mentioned in my statement” on the floor.

Landrieu is proud of her price.

Where's the new Washington that Obama promised?

I don't see it.

Landrieu is demanding more than $300 million to secure her vote. The Wall Street Journal has the three conditions that Landrieu insists must be met in order for her to vote for the final bill.

1) More tax credits for small business to buy health insurance. The issue is a consistent theme for Ms. Landrieu, who is chairman of the Senate Small Business Committee. The bill already includes some credits at a cost of $27 billion over a decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

2) Measures to prevent sharp health premium increases between now and the time the bill goes into effect. Ms. Landrieu noted that several years would pass between passage of the bill and 2014, when many of its provisions take effect including the introduction of insurance exchanges where people could comparison-shop for plans.

3) “A better and bipartisan solution” to the question of a government-run, health-insurance plan sought by liberal Democrats. The current bill includes the public plan, with an option for states not to participate. But Ms. Landrieu indicated she preferred a proposal by Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe, under which the public plan would be triggered only if other steps didn’t make coverage affordable.

Being a swing vote has its perks, but it also has its negatives.

Landrieu is going to be bombarded by people on both sides of the issue. She'll be pressured and threatened. Doesn't sound like fun to me.

Is it a good thing to advertise that you can be bought? I don't think so.

That's exactly what Landrieu has done.