Congressional Democrats have swapped out roughly 153 pages of the health care bill over the past week in an 11th-hour attempt to get their pork problem under control, the AP reports.
Sen. Kent Conrad rejected a provision in the bill that would make the state-owned Bank of North Dakota the only non-nationalized student loan lender; mostly from fear that vicious, nasty, “partisan” Republicans would point out that the Bank of North Dakota was the only non-nationalized student loan lender. Sen. Ben Nelson is still trying to live down his now-dead Cornhusker Kickback, and Sens. Max Baucus and Chris Dodd are fighting like rabid squirrels to keep Pres. Obama from squashing pet projects in their states.
Congressional observers continue to watch in awe as congressmen hide sample Medicare language under the couch or on top of the fridge, secret stashes for really rough days. In an effort to stymie back-room dealing, Sen. Tom Coburn made clear to anyone tempted to give in to the heebie-jeebies, the staggers and jags, the jimjams, the jazz hands, or the rats, that “if you think you can cut a deal now, and it not come out until after the election, I want to tell you that isn’t going to happen.”