ACORN qualifies for funding under Senate Health Care bill

Remember last week when I told you all about Senator Roland Burris being a hold out on the Senate Health Care Bill. Remember I told you that he wasn’t doing it for principle but rather for some greedy little reason. Well, here is the greedy reason; he snuck in language that could allow ACORN to get more funding.

From The Weekly Standard:

Senator Roland Burris is claiming credit for a provision in Harry Reid's "manager's amendment," unveiled Saturday morning, that could funnel money to ACORN through the health care bill.

On December 9, Burris, an Illinois Democrat, pledged that he would filibuster a health care bill without a public option. "If we have to get 60 and it comes back and it does not have a public option in it, I will not vote for it," he said. Then early last week he said he could vote for the bill if there were changes made to achieve the goals of the public option: "until this bill addresses cost, competition, and accountability in a meaningful way—it will not win [my vote]."

Asked last night before the Senate voted why he was planning to support a bill without a public option, Burris said: "We have a great bill--the best we could get. And it also covers most of our concerns: competition, cost, and accountability." But had anything specifically changed in the text of the bill that helped him change his mind? Burris told THE WEEKLY STANDARD: "It was the disparity provision that was put in, which we had something to do with, in terms of making sure that diabetes and the other diseases that are affecting minorities are really studied by HHS in all of these pilot programs."

The provision he cites, found on pages 240 through 248 of the manager's amendment, requires that six different agencies each establish an “Office of Minority Health.” The agencies are the “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.”

According to page 241 of the amendment:

In carrying out this subsection, the Secretary, acting through the Deputy Assistant Secretary, shall award grants, contracts, enter into memoranda of understanding, cooperative, interagency, intra-agency and other agreements with public and nonprofit private entities, agencies, as well as Departmental and Cabinet agencies and organizations, and with organizations that are indigenous human resource providers in communities of color to assure improved health status of racial and ethnic minorities, and shall develop measures to evaluate the effectiveness of activities aimed at reducing health disparities and supporting the local community. Such measures shall evaluate community outreach activities, language services, workforce cultural competence, and other areas as determined by the Secretary.’’

According to a Senate legislative aide, the scandal-plagued Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now could qualify for grants under this provision. ACORN would also qualify for funding on page 150 of the underlying Reid bill, which says that "community and consumer-focused nonprofit groups" may receive grants to "conduct public education activities to raise awareness of the availability of qualified health plans."

You will recall that Roland Burris was one of the seven senators who voted against cutting off funds for ACORN. It looks like the brother is still shilling for ACORN.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: The Weekly Standard

Senator Roland Burris the next hold out

Roland Burris is the next hold out on the Senate healthcare bill. He is pushing back against the removal of the Medicare buy in and the public option that was done to appease Joe Lieberman.

From The New York Times:  

Senator Roland W. Burris, Democrat of Illinois, has vowed that he will not vote for a health care bill that does not include a government-run insurance plan, or public option. 

And on Monday, after Democrats indicated that they were prepared to meet the demands of Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, and strip the last vestige of a public option from their bill, Mr. Burris went to the Senate floor to warn that he had not committed to vote for the legislation.

Mr. Burris, however, did calibrate his language: “I am committed to voting for a bill that achieves the goals of a public option: competition, cost savings and accountability,” he said. “I will not be able to vote for lesser legislation that ignores those fundamentals.”

He added: “My colleagues may have forged a compromise bill that can achieve the 60 votes that will be needed for it to pass. But until this bill addresses cost, competition and accountability in a meaningful way, it will not win mine.”

With a dramatic flourish, Mr. Burris said: “As Mohandas Gandhi once famously said, ‘All compromise is based on give and take, but there can be no give and take on fundamentals. Any compromise on mere fundamentals is a surrender.’”

Other liberals are also expected to resist appeasing Mr. Lieberman. But they may have little choice if Democrats hope to adopt a health care bill and avoid a failure to achieve President Obama’s top domestic priority.

Call me a cynic, but I don’t believe that Burris is taking a principled progressive stance. Rather I believe he is looking to get his palm greased.

Obama and Reid are either cracking skulls or greasing palms to get this bill passed. Since Burris is NOT getting reelected, hardball tactics are ineffective, thus greasing his palm is the only option.  Look for Burris to “see the light” in a few days and accept this bill. A few days later expect to see that he is getting an appointment somewhere or so other quid pro quo.

All of these people who say they cannot vote for this bill because of x, y or z are really full of s—t. What they are concerned about is getting something from a desperate administration. They could not care less if the bill passes or not. It is only a matter of time before, everyone whacked into line or paid off and the bill will pass.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: The New York Times