What do you do when you cannot get a bill through on merit?

That is an easy one for Senator Harry Reid (D-NV). Go out and bribe some of your colleagues.

Senator Mary Landrieu started the extortion parade. She was bought off for $300M to allow the debate to start on the bill.

The latest and most blatant example is Senator Ben Nelson (D-NB). He managed to secure funding for all new Medicaid patients in Nebraska when requirements go in that extend coverage to those below 133 percent of the poverty level. It will cost $45M over 10 years. Other states, including Alaska, will have to pay a portion when the requirement goes through.

Bernie Sanders (I-VT), a proud socialist, managed to score $10B in for community health centers. This was the way to buy off someone on the far left as the public option was removed.

Nelson and Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) managed to get Reid to carve out an exemption for non-profit firms that spend at least 92% of premiums on medical service. Surprise, this little gem specifically targeted aid to firms in Michigan and Nebraska.

Compromise is not a bad thing. It is a bad thing though when it essentially comes down to bribes being offered that cause elected officials to forget principles to bring home the bacon.

The bill as it stands now will be paid for with $400B in new taxes and $500B in cuts to Medicare. People likely recall plastic surgery taxes were taken out at one point. Tanning salon owners need to get lobbyists because now there is a 10% tax placed on their services.

Does anybody really believe $500B can be cut from a system that is going bankrupt? The reality is it will not happen. However, it does allow the Democrats to feed nonsense to the Congressional Budget Office. It feeds the nonsense deficit numbers being spit out. Make no mistake, this is only one of the many bogus pieces of data being fit into the equation.

All of this just because President Obama demanded a bill by a certain date and the Democrats feel like they need to deliver.

What if all of the physicians affected by this bill put a time limit on their services? Sorry, Mr. Smith but I cannot finish removing your appendix because the president said I had to have it done by 2 AM.

Wouldn't it be great to just stop and do your job halfway with a deadline as an excuse. And imagine how thrilling it would be to bring home some extra cash by giving in when the job was not complete. How does it feel Senator Nelson?

This health care plan is nothing more than a compilation of ideas to appease various special interests along with some political pay-offs.

Where is the Department of Justice when you need them? Oh wait, this is legal because it involves Democrats and the secret dealings did not happen in a hotel in Juneau.

Change you can believe in? More like politics as usual on anabolic steroids.