This analysis [1] by National Review Online of Harry Reid’s health-care bill reveals sweetheart deals for a number of states represented by Democrat Senators. These states include Nebraska (Nelson), Michigan (Levin and Stabenow), Vermont (Leahy and Sanders), Louisiana (Landrieu), Massachusetts (Kerry and Kirk), New York (Schumer and Gillbrand), Pennsylvania (Casey and Specter), Florida (Nelson), Hawaii (Inouye and Akaka), Montana (Baucus and Tester), North Dakota (Dorgan and Conrad), and South Dakota (Johnson).
Notably absent from the list of states whose Democrat Senators secured valuable federal aid in exchange for their support of this massive new entitlement is the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Within the past three years, Virginians have elected rookie legislators Jim Webb and Mark Warner to the United States Senate. Both men pledged to Virginians that they would vote as moderates, with Warner even terming himself a “radical centrist.” Instead, Virginians now come to find out that the voices they have chosen to represent them may indeed be radical, but they are definitely not centrist.
Sens. Warner and Webb have achieved complete failure in giving Virginia any influence whatsoever in this massive restructuring of the American economy. Further, they have shown an apparent lack of interest in helping the Commonwealth of Virginia deal with the expansive new tax and regulatory burdens of this legislation. By extension, they are on the verge of forcing Virginians to subsidize health care in numerous other states like Nebraska, without receiving anything in return.
For these achievements and for their willingness to support whatever legislation Harry Reid asked them to, they are truly deserving of being dubbed the Harry and Lloyd [2] of the United States Senate.
I urge all Virginians to contact the Senate Offices of Jim Webb (202-224-4024) and Mark Warner (202-224-2023) and demand that they vote in the interests of the Virginians who elected them by voting AGAINST final passage of this boondoggle of a bill.