|
|
"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
|
Justice accuses Sen. Reid of bribery for 'Cornhusker Kickback' in original healthcare legislation
|
|---|
| Parent(s) |
Issue
|
| Contributor | Brandonius Maximus |
| Last Edited | Brandonius Maximus Mar 28, 2012 05:25pm |
| Logged |
0
|
| Category | General |
| Author | Elise Viebeck |
| News Date | Wednesday, March 28, 2012 11:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia drew laughter during oral arguments Wednesday when he implied that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) had bribed a colleague to ensure the passage of the healthcare overhaul.
Scalia, one of the high court's most conservative members, referenced a deal between Reid and Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), which was in an initial draft of the healthcare package and gave Nebraska $100 million in special Medicaid assistance in exchange for Nelson's vote.
The provision was derided by Republicans and had become known as the "Cornhusker Kickback" by mid-March 2010, when drafts revealed it was no longer in the bill.
Scalia used the phrase Wednesday to impugn Nelson under what he described as the Constitution's prohibition of "venality," or susceptibility to bribes, and to question whether the entire healthcare law would become null without its central provision — the individual mandate to buy health insurance.
"[I]f we struck down nothing in this legislation but the … 'Cornhusker Kickback,' OK? We find that to violate the constitutional proscription of venality, OK?" Scalia said, eliciting chuckles from the audience.
"When we strike [the 'Cornhusker Kickback'] down, it's clear that Congress would not have passed [the bill] without that. It was the means of getting the last necessary vote in the Senate.
"And you are telling us that the whole statute would fall because the 'Cornhusker Kickback' is bad? That can't be right," he said. |
| Share |
|
|
2¢
|
|
| Article | Read Full Article |
|
| Date |
Category |
Headline |
Article |
Contributor |
|
|
