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MO Republicans urge Democrats to break their silence on health care bill

January 12, 2010

Sen. Schmitt calls on Koster to investigate Cornhusker Kickback

JEFFERSON CITY—As Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid continue their secret meetings to finalize their multi-billion dollar health care boondoggle, Missouri Republicans, led most recently by Sen. Eric Schmitt, are urging the state’s top Democrats to break their silence on the bill.

The Democrats’ health care bill is so unpalatable that Harry Reid used hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to bribe Senators in states like Nebraska, Vermont, and Louisiana to vote yes.  The most egregious example is the Nebraska Compromise (“Cornhusker Kickback”), which mandates that the federal government will pay—indefinitely—all of Nebraska’s costs associated with the expansion of Medicaid that is at the center of the Senate’s bill.

No other state received such a benefit, including Missouri, which will receive no additional help from the federal government. Governors, including Nebraska’s Dave Heineman, were up in arms about the deal.  Ohio’s Democrat Gov. Ted Strickland called the deal “unseemly” and “selfish.”  Jay Nixon has remained silent.  More than a dozen state Attorneys General have announced that they are investigating the “compromise.”  But like Nixon, A.G. Chris Koster has refused to speak out against the bill.

On Friday, Sen. Eric Schmitt sent a letter to Koster urging him to join his colleagues across the nation in investigating the “constitutionality and legality” of the Nebraska Compromise.

“We commend Sen. Eric Schmitt and the rest of the Republican caucus for opposing this devastating health care bill and the underhanded tactics that Harry Reid used to pass it,” said Lloyd Smith, Executive Director of the Missouri Republican Party.  “The Cornhusker Kickback is just one of the countless backroom deals that Democrats struck to force their health care experiment on Americans who overwhelmingly oppose it.  By refusing to speak out, Missouri Democrats like Jay Nixon, Claire McCaskill, and Chris Koster have lent their tacit approval to the harmful bill.”

Sen Schmitt’s letter to Koster can be found here, and the text is as follows:

In light of the recent Senate version of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (HR 3590), and in response to a number of inquiries, I respectfully call on you to join other Attorneys General from across our nation in challenging the special deal reportedly struck by Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson to have the federal government and Missouri taxpayers pick up Nebraska’s tab for the new Medicaid mandate sought in HR 3590.

Not only does this “Nebraska Compromise” strike a blow to our collective confidence in our elected officials in Washington, DC, it violates basic notions of fundamental fairness. Further, the “Nebraska Compromise”, which permanently exempts Nebraska from paying Medicaid costs that Missouri and 48 other states must pay, may also violate the United States Constitution and other provisions of federal law. As a fellow attorney, I urge you to thoroughly review the constitutionality and legality of this suspect provision of HR 3590 and stand up for Missouri taxpayers who are in danger of being left holding the bag.

I respectfully request your immediate attention to this matter.

[signed Sen. Eric Schmitt]

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