Goodbye, Cornhusker Kickback

How stupid must Ben Nelson feel tonight? He sold his soul in return for a kickback, he's reviled in his own state and will likely never again be elected, and now his bribe has been removed from the hot mess that is the healthcare bill.

Slick move, Ben.

On the other hand, some fresh bribes are in the bill.

Bye bye, Cornhusker Kickback. Hello, special treatment for Tennessee and North Dakota.

Democrats unveiling revisions Thursday to their health care overhaul bill decided to kill the extra $100 million in Medicaid funds for Nebraska that has become a symbol of backdoor deal making.

But the 153 pages of changes to the massive health care package include extra money for hospitals in Tennessee that serve large numbers of low-income patients. And though the bill would revamp the nation's student loan system to make the government the only lender, one bank - the state-owned Bank of North Dakota - would be allowed to continue making student loans.

That provision ended up rubbing Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., the wrong way. Fearing it would become a target by Republicans in what he said is "an overly heated partisan environment," he asked the House late Thursday to remove it from the legislation.

Still alive is special spending for Louisiana, Connecticut, Montana and other states that was included in the health care bill that the Senate approved in December. The House may give it final approval this weekend.

Instapundit links. Thanks!

Shamnesty Losing Support (Update): DEFEATED

A stunningly silent Chuckie Schumer and soon-to-be former U.S. Senator Lindsey Grahamnesty discuss wrecking America through importing an illegal horde in this AP photo.

May this nonsense die a quick death today, never to be heard from again.

Senate immigration bill lost supporters yesterday and hangs on by a thread heading into this morning's showdown vote, after lawmakers voted down amendments making illegal aliens show roots to get legal status and cutting off their path to citizenship.

This morning's vote is on a parliamentary question about limiting debate, but it boils down to a vote to block the bill.

Just two days ago, 64 senators voted to revive the bill, with many saying they wanted to give the Senate a chance to improve the bill through amendments. But after a messy day in the chamber yesterday, with dozens of objections, arguments on the floor and five amendments defeated, at least a half-dozen senators said publicly or privately that their patience has run out.

"The way this has been handled, I'm not going to take a leap of faith," said Sen. Richard M. Burr, North Carolina Republican, who voted to advance the bill on Tuesday but said the way Democratic leaders ran the floor yesterday left no room to "take a bad bill and make it better."

Sen. Ben Nelson, Nebraska Democrat, said he has voted to keep the bill moving a half-dozen times already on "cloture" votes, but yesterday's debate showed him the bill is probably unsalvageable.

"I've given them six or seven cloture votes," he said. "I think this clay pigeon is becoming a dead duck."

Nothing more underscored the utter cluelessness of the Senate than this Sean Hannity interview with Ohio's Sen. Voinovich, who should be drummed out of office for sheer stupidity.

UPDATE: Kaboom. A crushing defeat for The Swimmer, Dingy Harry, and the rest of the morons who voted for this.
Senate Hands Down a Major Defeat on Immigration Bill

The most dramatic overhaul of the nation's immigration laws in a generation was trounced this morning by a bipartisan filibuster, with the political right and left overwhelming a coalition of Republicans and Democrats who had been seeking compromise on one of the most difficult social and economic issues facing the country.

The 46-53 tally fell dramatically short of the 60 votes needed to overcome opponents' dilatory tactics and parliamentary maneuvers that have dogged the bill for weeks.

Of course, the WaPo (naturally) spins it as a major defeat for President Bush, but did he write the legislation? Did he fail as Senate Majority Leader to get his own party in line?

Major props go out to Michelle Malkin, who, among many others, deserves major credit for helping kill this travesty.