Sweeteners for the South By Dana Milbank

When you read this article, in the Washington Post,fancy that, you see, what I call corruption in our legislative process. Hannity had an ex-republican governor on his program last evening talking about this vote purchase, and he stated, matter of factly, that this is common in the way legislation gets passed. In other words, if the bill does not warrant a yes vote on its merits, it gets passed by bribing the corrupt legislators. Whether it is for her constituents, or state coffers, it is a bribe that Mary Landrieu is taking, and a bill she has problems with will be passed because of her. Where are the ethics in that?

Staffers on Capitol Hill were calling it the Louisiana Purchase.

On the eve of Saturday's showdown in the Senate over health-care reform, Democratic leaders still hadn't secured the support of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), one of the 60 votes needed to keep the legislation alive. The wavering lawmaker was offered a sweetener: at least $100 million in extra federal money for her home state.

And so it came to pass that Landrieu walked onto the Senate floor midafternoon Saturday to announce her aye vote -- and to trumpet the financial "fix" she had arranged for Louisiana. "I am not going to be defensive," she declared. "And it's not a $100 million fix. It's a $300 million fix."

I would call it a $100 million or $300 million bribe paid for by the taxpayers.

Sweeteners for the South By Dana Milbank