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United States Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) receives his $174,000 annual salary through payroll checks drawn from the U.S. Treasury but he actually works for the Corporation. The DNC Services Corporation. So, while the U.S. Constitution authorizes his office in the Legislative branch of the federal government, Mr. Nelson takes his marching orders directly from the DNC. And even though the Declaration of Independence proclaims that governments “deriv[e] their just powers from the consent of the governed,” given the choice between following the lead of his constituents back home in Nebraska or the dictates of officials of the Corporation, again, Mr....

Demos predict health care successBy ERICA WERNER Associated Press Wednesday, December 23, 2009 10:20 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — From the White House to Capitol Hill, Democrats on Tuesday confidently predicted Senate passage of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul after the bill cleared its second 60-vote test and the time was set for a final tally. **SNIP** The Senate measure would still have to be harmonized with the health care bill passed by the House in November before final legislation would go to Obama. There are significant differences between the two bills, including stricter abortion language in the House...

Conn. considering lawsuit if Nebraska gets moneyPublished: Wednesday, December 23, 2009 HARTFORD (AP) — Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell has asked the state attorney general to sue the federal government if Nebraska receives extra Medicaid money in the final version of federal health care reform legislation. In order to secure the support of Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson for the bill, Senate Democrats included a controversial provision that allows the federal government to pick up 100 percent of the cost of Medicaid expansion in his state. Rell, a Republican, says the inequity of that provision is "astonishing," and that Connecticut is...

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott (R) said Tuesday that he and top prosecutors in a half-dozen other states plan to challenge the constitutionality of a health care compromise that exempts Nebraska from paying billions in Medicaid expansion costs, forcing other states to shoulder a bigger burden for the low-income insurance program. The Texas attorney general said he will join with Republican counterparts in up to six other states to challenge what they call the "Nebraska Compromise," the political deal that secured Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson's crucial vote on a massive health care package in exchange for concessions for his state....

I said yesterday it wouldn’t be long before Obama’s Jokers posters started popping up across the country.First, Claire McCaskill.Now, Nebraskans have Jokerized Ben Nelson. (Or rather, he Jokerized himself, didn’t he?)Reader Tim e-mails the photos and this message:“Saw this in small town Nebraska today less than 50 miles from Ben Nelson’s home town. This is pretty surprising to me because this is strictly an agricultural area. Nelson has consistently catered to the agricultural interests in Nebraska and so is pretty popular among the farmers and ranchers in the area. Federal subsidies are a huge percentage of area farm income. But...

Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman was just on Fox News with Greta Van Susteren, where he denounced Harry Reid's purchase of Nelson's 60th vote for cloture on the Senate bill. "Nebraska doesn't want a special deal, we only want a fair deal. We're embarrassed by what's going on... Nebraskans are angry and upset by what they've heard," Heineman said. "I've also asked Senator Nelson... he has a chance tomorrow to vote no on cloture. That would be the best thing for Nebraska, the best thing for America. Send this bill back to committee, go home for Christmas and think about it...

Senator Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, may have taught his Congressional colleagues a valuable lesson when he clinched a special deal for his state. But not all of them are happy about it. Mr. Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, bargained for extra payments for his home state during negotiations late last week, in which he provided Senate Democrats with the magical 60th vote they needed to advance their health care bill. Prompted by an angry Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, the attorney general of that state and six others are looking at the Nelson deal, which they have dubbed...

COLUMBIA, SC (WMBF) - U.S. Senators Jim DeMint and Lindsay Graham are hoping to turn the tables on health care in Washington, after requesting an investigation into special deals being made to secure votes for successful reform. A letter addressed by the two South Carolina lawmakers was received by State Attorney General Henry McMaster Tuesday morning, detailing concerns over funding arrangements negotiated with Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska. "The language of the Nelson provision appears to give Nebraska a permanent exemption from paying the Medicaid expenses all other states in the nation will be required to pay," McMaster said in...

Politics: Sen. Mary Landrieu was the new "Louisiana Purchase." Sen. Ben Nelson got the federal government to pick up his state's future Medicaid tab. Maybe we should just put Senate votes up on eBay. Nelson, the 60th vote in the middle-of-the-night Senate party line vote on health care reform, will go down in American political history as the inventor of the permanent earmark. His seemingly principled stand against including federal funding for abortion evaporated like the morning dew as he decided to take what was behind door No. 1. The deal for Nelson includes special Medicaid funding for Nebraska, along...

Taking advantage of a lull in the healthcare debate, the Senate Thursday began considering a nearly $450 billion fiscal 2010 spending omnibus package in an effort to complete most of the fiscal year's appropriations business in the next few days. Senate action on the measure -- which includes six fiscal 2010 appropriations bills but not the Defense bill -- came after the House passed the package 221-202 earlier Thursday. The Senate will consider the legislation this weekend because Republicans are blocking a consent agreement to complete the measure early next week. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Thursday evening filed...

Video: Sen. Nelson said: “If you think it's fun having both sides on an issue mad at you when you're trying to do something in good faith, just think, it's like going home and getting bit by the family dog. So - who enjoys that?” Well Senator, it'll be even less enjoyable when you get voted out of office, ever think about that!

A group called Americans for Prosperity in Nebraska gathered a crowd for a rally in Omaha to press Sen. Nelson on the reform bill. Anger over senator Ben Nelson's support of health care reform. Nearly 2,000 people rally in Omaha, hoping he's listening. The group's message is two fold -- reconsider your vote Senator Nelson and remember your decision when elections roll around. With their signs in hand, Nebraskans filled Omaha's Music Hall, rallying against the senate health care bill and Sen. Nelson's support for it. "I think that's why we're all here. To get him to listen to us,"...

Back on November 21st, Senator Mary Landrieu provided the 60th vote for the Senate Democrats to cut off a GOP filibuster and start the debate on a healthcare reform bill. In exchange for that vote, the Democratic leadership offered her a $300 million ‘bribe’ in the form of additional Medicaid benefits for her home state of Louisiana and for other states ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. Now a month later Senator Ben Nelson has announced that he will provide the 60th vote to cut off debate on the healthcare reform bill. In exchange for his vote, the Democratic leadership offered him...

Dr. Becky Hollibaugh of Friend, Nebraska e-mailed me her message for sellout Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) this morning:Hello Michelle:I’m a family practice doctor in Nebraska. I sent the following (angry,I admit) letter to Senator Nelson. I urge your readers (from Nebraska and elsewhere) to do likewise, in their own words!Dear Senator Nelson:I send this message under “Tort Reform” because the current monstrosity you have pledged your support to says nothing whatsoever about Tort Reform. You have sold the physicians of Nebraska for zilch (zilch for us, but beaucoup federal bucks for you and the liberal partisans in this state). As...

Senator Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) has caved in to pressure from Democrats in their proposed government takeover of the health care industry, settling for language that allows use of federal taxpayer dollars to fund abortion. But was the abortion issue the reason he objected to the bill at all? Now that he’s caved on the language and will vote to allow federal funding of abortion, people are left to wonder. The House-passed bill includes language that would repeal the McCarran-Ferguson Act which exempts insurance companies from federal anti-trust legislation, which facilitates insurance company monopolies within each state. Yesterday afternoon, the insurance...

Senator Nelson of Nebraska cut a special deal. In exchange for agreeing to allow government funds be used for abortions, he got a special deal for Nebraska. The special deal was that Nebraska would not have to pay matching funds for Medicade. All the other 49 states must pay matching funds. Many of those state like my own state of California can not afford to pay those matching funds. Who pays for Nebraska's Medicare casts? All of us who live in the other 49 states. BS, I say. We should not stand by while Nebraska sucks money from all the...

The liberals have delivered a lump of coal to all Americans this Christmas by buying the vote of Senator Ben Nelson, in order to have the 60 votes necessary to force through the Health Care reform bill. The Nebraska Democrat was given a huge payoff for his state by the leadership in the Senate, which will prevent a filibuster, barring any last minute defections from this package. Some are questioning Nelson's motives, as his earlier objections to the bill had to do with restrictions on abortion coverage. But those restrictions failed to satisfy major anti-abortion groups and lawmakers. Even though...

Democrat Ben “Dover” Nelson, who had previously threatened to join a GOP filibuster of the Senate Health Care Bill, proved today that everything has a price – including a man’s values. The Nebraska Senator just accepted what I’ll generously describe as an enormous “monetary incentive” to do a complete 180 on his long-time position on abortion funding and thereby gave this awful legislation life with his 60th all-Democrat vote. Earlier this month, Nelson insisted that he would not support a bill without stronger anti-abortion language:

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Pro-life groups have spent most of Saturday morning furiously analyzing the Nelson-Reid compromise language on abortion funding in the Senate health care bill. Their conclusion is that the language undermines the amendments they wanted to ban abortion funding. The compromise language appears in the manager's amendment Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is offering to shore up the 60 votes he needs to overcome the filibuster against the pro-abortion health care bill. The language is not similar to the Stupak and Nelson amendments approved by the House and defeated in the Senate. Instead, Section 38 adds a...

What started as Sen. Ben Nelson's personal stand against covering abortion with taxpayer money translated, somehow, into millions of dollars in federal aid for his home state. The Nebraska Democrat, following weeks of negotiations with his caucus, finally agreed to back the Senate's health care reform bill this weekend after Democratic leaders made a series of concessions. Nelson's support gives Democrats the 60 votes they need to overcome a filibuster, barring any last-minute defections. But critics by Sunday were heavily questioning Nelson's motivations, given that the abortion restrictions he sought and won did not satisfy several major anti-abortion lawmakers and...

Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee says those unhappy with the health care overhaul set to be pushed through the Senate this week should express their displeasure at the polls next November. Huckabee spoke Sunday to a raucous crowd of about 1,800 people at an Omaha rally sponsored by Americans for Prosperity of Nebraska. Huckabee says the vote on health care reform is a pivotal moment in American history, and he took Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson to task for deciding to support the measure. Huckabee went so far as to compare Nelson to Judas in the biblical story of Jesus'...

The corruption of using the public treasury as a check book to buy the votes of Senator Nelson and Senator Sanders — in the face not only overwhelming public opposition, but also in the face of a public that now wants Congress to do nothing on health care — means that extraordinary measures are needed to kill ObamaCare. This plan, if executed properly, will kill the bill and it will give opponents two more bites at the apple, after it passes the Senate. There are some atmospheric conditions that will help this plan work. For example, both sides of the...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The little town of Libby, Mont., isn't mentioned by name in the Senate's mammoth health care bill, but it's one of the big winners in the legislation, thanks to the influence of Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. After pushing for years for help for residents of the area, thousands of whom suffer from asbestos-related illnesses from a now-closed mineral mining operation, Baucus inserted language in a package of last-minute amendments that grants them access to Medicare benefits. He didn't advertise the change, and it takes a close read of the bill to find it. It's just...

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - It was the concern of Nebraska's Republican governor over expanded Medicaid costs in the proposed Senate health care overhaul bill that led to a compromise to cover his state's estimated $45 million share over a decade, U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson said Sunday. Gov. Dave Heineman "contacted me and he said this is another unfunded federal mandate and it's going to stress the state budget, and I agreed with him," the Nebraska Democrat said. "I said to the leader and others that this is something that has to be fixed. I didn't participate in the way it...

For those who wish to get on the list, feel free to FReepmail writer33. If you wish to send one yourself to your Senator or Senator Ben Nelson, follow the link to find a singularized version at the blog site I sent to my Senator. Make sure to FReepmail writer33 with your name for those that can. Don't put your name out on the open forum. As you know that would make you vulnerable to any whack job on the internet. The letter goes straight to Senator Nelson and is not for public consumption.

A leading women's group called on senators on Saturday to defeat its healthcare reform bill. The leader of the National Organization for Women (NOW) excoriated the language in the health bill curtailing federal support for insurance plan covering abortions, which was inserted to win the 60th vote of Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.). "The so-called health care reform bill now before the Senate, with the addition of Majority Leader Harry Reid's Manager's Amendment, amounts to a health insurance bill for half the population and a sweeping anti-abortion law for the rest of us," NOW President Terry O'Neill said in a statement.

Patriots, "Telephone Tea Party #2" starts NOW!!! Storm congress by phone by calling your Senators at (202) 224-3121 and telling them to "Kill the Pelosi/Reid/Obamacare Bill." Let's bury congress with calls and protest the bill. CALL NOW, CALL EARLY, CALL OFTEN. LET YOUR VOICES BE HEARD. Rise up, call NOW!

18 states allow for recall votes on US Senators. The 18 states allowing for recall are as follows: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin. The Senate oath of office is: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well...

Senate Democratic leaders say last-minute changes to the health care bill include giving nonprofit health insurance companies an exemption from the excise tax on insurers, a revision pushed by Sen. Carl Levin, who is a major recipient of campaign contributions form mega nonprofit Blue Cross Blue Shield. The excise tax or fee on health insurance companies was expected to bring in $6.7 billion to help pay for the nearly $1 trillion bill, but the complete exemption for nonprofits sought by Mr. Levin, Michigan Democrat, would cut the revenue in half. "The health insurance fee proposal in the pending Senate bill...

Video: "Now - for the first time - there is a clear majority in the Senate that's willing to stand up to the insurance lobby and embrace lasting health insurance reforms that have eluded us for generations. Let's bring this long and vigorous debate to an end." Oooooooobama! A CLEAR MAJORITY!!! A clear manufactured, arm-twisted majority at best!

The Senate is heading toward a Christmas Eve vote to pass landmark healthcare legislation, but instead of holiday cheer, Democrats and Republicans are digging in for trench warfare. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is determined to finish work before the Christmas holiday and has set a schedule that would end with a final vote on the evening of Dec. 24. “We’re going to finish this healthcare bill before we leave here for the holidays,” Reid declared on the floor Thursday. But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has told colleagues that he will not give any ground on procedural...

WASHINGTON -- Now that health-care reform has reached the Senate floor without a single Republican vote, four Democrats are vying to become King of the Hill by demanding laundry lists of changes in exchange for their votes -- prompting liberals to vow not to be held hostage by a few foot-draggers. Majority Leader Harry Reid got the bill to the floor by a 60-39 vote, the narrowest possible margin. The close vote provided a vivid demonstration of each Democrat's ability to sink President Obama's top domestic priority -- or use his vote to try to extract concessions Sen. Ben Nelson...

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) deserves the Congressional Medal of Honor if he ends up blocking health reform legislation, one of his Senate colleagues said Friday. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) said the pressure on Democrats had reached unprecedented levels, and that Nelson, a key centrist lawmaker who leaders need to reach 60 votes, had been heroic in refusing to sign onto the bill as of yet. "Gosh, I can't believe than Ben Nelson has been able to hold up under this pressure," DeMint said during an appearance on CNBC. "If he holds up, he deserves a Congressional Medal of Honor."

The chairman of Nebraska's Republican Party predicts that Sen. Ben Nelson's decision to back sweeping health care legislation will be his downfall. "I think this is the end of his political career in the state of Nebraska,” says Mark Fahleson. On Saturday, the state party launched a Web site, givebentheboot.com, to collect funds to oust the Democrat in the 2010 election. Nelson said earlier Saturday that he decided to support the measure after winning concessions to limit the availability of abortions in insurance sold in newly created exchanges, as well as tens of million in federal Medicaid funds for Nebraska....

Ben Nelson says that he knows who started the rumor, and that it may be embarrassing if/when that info comes out. Says, no one threatened him or offered him ANYTHING for his vote. He's says the abortion issue is not the only thing stopping him from supporting the Senate bill.

Surprise.... Surprise... a new low? I think so.

Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson dropped his anti-abortion amendment into the Senate health care debate this afternoon, essentially lifting the language from the House version that so angered the left. Nelson, a staunch pro-life advocate, partnered with fellow Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and several Republicans to offer the measure, saying it’s necessary to ensure no federal dollars are spent on elective abortions. “Most Americans, even some who support abortion, do not want taxpayer money to be used for abortions,” Nelson said in his floor speech. “We should not break with precedent on this bill.” Nelson said the amendment would bar women...

As the Senate health care debate enters crunch time, the pressure from all sides continued to grow today, with Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., right in the middle. His spokesman quickly dismissed a report by conservative columnist Michelle Malkin that Nelson was even being threatened with “closure of an air force base,” presumably Offutt Air Force Base, which is south of Omaha and home of U.S. Strategic Command. Malkin also said Nelson has been promised a “bribe bigger than Sen. Landrieu's.” That's a reference to Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Democrat and one of the last holdouts on the vote to...

Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., and 19 other GOP senators today called for a hearing into reports that the Obama administration used the future of Offutt Air Force Base as bargaining chip in the health care debate, according to a press release by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., has flatly denied that Offutt came up in connection with the health care bill or any other piece of legislation. The White House also has described those reports as "absurd." The group of Republican senators called for a hearing in a letter to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin,...

Here is a video report from CBS News this morning which says that the fate of the Senate Health Care Bill is now down to one vote - Democrat Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska. According to sources, Democrats are "negotiating furiously" with Nelson to get his vote. Democrats want a vote on the Bill before Christmas, which would mean they have to file for a final vote on the bill by this Saturday - December 19. . . . (VIDEO)

On Tuesday, the Weekly Standard's Michael Goldfarb, citing an unnamed Senate aide, wrote that "the White House is now threatening to put Nebraska's Offutt Air Force Base on the BRAC list if Nelson doesn't fall into line." Translation: Goldfarb is reporting that, according to his source, the Obama administration is suggesting to Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska (left), who has been hesitant to support the Senate health care bill due to his concerns over abortion, that it will close the base if Nelson doesn't back the bill. It was, the source said, a "naked effort by Rahm Emanuel and...

Everyone in the country closely following the ObamaCare saga have been waiting for Senator Nelson (D-NE) to give us a sense of where he is on the bill since his abortion restriction amendment failed last week. Yesterday, Senator Nelson — a long time pro-lifer — said: “I can’t support cloture [ending the filibuster] on the next round,” and that adds a second large monkey wrench in the Senate ObamaCare gears. Monkey-wrench number one is the public option. Monkey-wrench number two is Nelson’s statement above. Monkey-wrench number three is any number of things that could rise to the level of a...

The White House and Democratic Leadership in the Senate has told Senator Nelson they will close every military base in Nebraska — a threat that is not credible, really — but they have also offered Senator Nelson between $300 million to $500 million in earmarks, according to key hill health care operatives. These hundreds of millions will be available for whatever he wants to spend them on in Nebraska. Given Senator Nelson’s hard core earmarking history as an appropriator, the word on the street is that this is the real carrot that could get Nelson to agree to some cover...

How desperate has the White House become to get anything passed under the name of health-care reform? According to Michael Goldfarb’s source on Capitol Hill, the Obama administration has targeted the last remaining Democratic holdout, at least among moderates — and they’re willing to damage national security to extort his support. The White House has threatened Ben Nelson (D-NE) with the closure of Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska if he opposes Reid’s latest version, despite its status as the headquarters of US Strategic Command: According to a Senate aide, the White House is now threatening to put Nebraska’s Offutt...

His biography also emphasizes his capacity to effect compromise noting that he is “known as a consensus builder who has worked to forge compromise agreements”. However, this is a man who knows the truth that the child in the womb is one of us and that we must not allow any Health Care Reform package to pass - and then become law - which uses Federal tax Dollars to kill our innocent neighbors. There are some truths which are incapable of “compromise.” The first among them is the fundamental human right to life and the first freedom, the freedom to...

Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson says he won’t vote for the “health care” bill if it has any support for killing womb babies. Will he cave? If he’s an opportunistic politician, of which they are legion, then we do not know if we can trust him. If he’s a totally committed biblical believer, no matter what the politics, his allegiance to God’s Word will not waver. Time will tell.

A moderate Democrat whose vote could be crucial said Thursday an attempted Senate compromise on abortion is unsatisfactory, raising doubts about whether the chamber can pass President Barack Obama's health care overhaul by Christmas. "As it is, without modifications, the language concerning abortion is not sufficient," Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, a key holdout on the health care bill, said in a statement after first making his concerns known to Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Nelson said there were positive improvements dealing with teen pregnancy and adoption, and that he was open to further negotiations. But in a radio interview earlier...

The fact is, no one is surprised that the WH would use these kinds of tactics to get someone to fall in line on a vote, Ben Nelson takes a shot at bloggers and says he knows who is behind it, but fails to mention who...+ another audio of a real threat that was on the air back a few months ago...

Here is video of South Carolina GOP Sen. Jim DeMint saying he is prepared to delay a vote on the Senate Health Care Bill in any way possible. DeMint also said that Democrat Sen. Ben Nelson will be an "American hero" if he refuses to support this bill. DeMint said he did not know if Nelson could hold out against the pressure being brought upon him by the White House. DeMint said he will seek to slow the bill down so it can at least be read before it is voted on. . . . (VIDEO)

United Methodist Church Bashes Ben Nelson on Abortion Funding Refusal Washington, DC -- The United Methodist Church has never made a secret of its support for abortion as it regularly participates in a radical national pro-abortion religious group. With one of its members, Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, holding up the health care bill over abortion funding, the church is on the attack. http://www.LifeNews.com/nat5792.html