Harry Reid Says Ben Nelson's Cornhusker Kickback was "terrific" for America; Takes Cheap Shot at Fox News

Breaking late yesterday is tape of Prince Harry Reid-as Hannity likes to say-being very remorseless about one of the most underhanded and unethical maneuvers related to the behind-the-scenes wheeling and dealing done to secure unreliable Democrat votes for Barack Obama's health care "reform." In fact, you could even say that Reid was downright proud of and gloating over being behind the Cornhusker Kickback! Giddily smiling and smirking each time he answered in defense of his shady maneuvers surrounding Obamacare, Reid apparently couldn't get it into his thick skull that that was exactly what turned off many Americans. Appearing on Greta Van Susteren's On the Record, Reid also willfully took a demeaning swipe at Fox News, accusing the channel of loving to berate Democrats (despite the fact that the deferential Van Susteren was sent to interview him!).

In a rather long interview that lasted almost 30 minutes, the choice parts were certainly when Van Susteren finally came out of her shell a little bit and decided to raise the Cornhusker Kickback with Reid. Reid's responses quite convincingly give a stunning glimpse into the mind and psychology of the average Democrat in the year 2010. If you take Reid as the template, Democrats today are shamelessly proud of using deceitful, anti-transparent maneuvers behind closed doors for the equally awful purpose of forcibly passing a piece of legislation that the majority of Americans despised anyway! Equally instructive is how Reid seems absolutely oblivious or downright deluded about the massive unpopularity of his actions and those of his party. They say ignorance is bliss, and Reid typifies this in the interview to the extreme. I suppose when he gets fired by the voters in November, he'll finally get that long-in-the-making rude awakening that he so richly deserves.

Analyzing Scott Brown's victory in MA and his opponent's, Marth Coakley's, rapid decline in the polls, Van Susteren offered that shady deals like the aforementioned Cornhusker Kickback were a huge reason behind this. In response, Reid doubted that correct analysis and said the kickback deal was "terrific" for America. Worsening his reputation further (is that even possible?), Reid then followed up by totally distorting the terms of the Nelson-benefiting kickback by misstating that now "every state in the Union has the Nebraska deal." Really, Prince Harry? Reeeaaally??

If memory serves correctly-and it does-the terms of the Cornhusker Kickback entitled Ben Nelson's state of Nebraska indefinite, 100% federal funding for the Medicaid expansion into the future. In other words, taxpayers of the other 49 states would foot the bill for Nebraska. So if Reid now shockingly says that "every state in the Union has the Nebraska deal," who is the other party(s) picking up the tab for the whole country, which would be a requirement if Reid's statement should make sense?! It doesn't, though, since under Obamacare as it passed, every single taxpayer in the US is stuck with the bill.

Equally disturbing is Reid's attitude about what the majority of Americans rightly viewed as a shady, underhanded deal. In continuing dialogue with Van Susteren, Reid shows how utterly-it's so bad it almost appears crazy-out of touch to the point of estrangement he is with voter sentiment and the pulse of ordinary Americans. When Van Susteren even had to tell him that many Americans think that Nelson was for sale and purchased for the Cornhusker Kickback, Reid even arrogantly asked if it would've been better had he let the bill fail! Then, he even defended the dishonorable, bought-and-paid-for Ben Nelson's character! My goodness!

As a public service, let me help out Harry Reid by exclaiming, "Yes, Reid! You ought to have let the bill fail because the majority of Americans was against it! You work for the voters; you don't get to unilaterally decide over their wishes, you jerk!"

Such hopeless arrogance in Reid's position is exactly why Reid's behind in the polls in his own reelection race for November and, in a broader sense, why Democrats are basically bleeding in all the polls.

As the interview draws to a close, Reid's just continually disturbing attitude towards ethics and Congress is on display some more-people always associate corruption with Congress and politics in general, but the way Reid casually refers to acts that the majority of Americans would find unethical is more evidence that he needs to be voted out as his ethics fail him. As Van Susteren ponders why Nelson didn't try to sell to his Nebraska constituents the fact that the kickback may've been a "good thing" for the state on account of the fact that they did receive a proverbial "freebie"-sure, at the expense of everyone else, but a freebie nonetheless-Reid chimes in and wonders the same thing. In other words, Reid says that if he would've gotten the same kickback deal, he would've "yelled it from the rooftops." So in Reid's world, kickbacks are apparently things to brag about and publicize? Outrageous!

Moreover, Reid also speaks casually about getting the same deal for everybody at the time he was bribing Nelson, which he did, according to him. Reid ends the interview by practically confessing that he thought it was good when Nelson asked for the kickback (read: bribe), justifying it as a way he could apparently "help" Medicaid for Nevada and the rest of the country. To people with regard for ethics, this is unpardonable and beyond the pale because talks over a bribe to secure Nelson's vote are treated by the senators as something casual, as just something to achieve their ends. Cynics can write this off as simply something to be expected from Reid and his ilk, but based on the polls, Americans are now absolutely intolerant to this mischief, which is why the Democrats are slated to lose big in the midterms.

The proverbial fireworks begin at the 21-minute mark of the interview:

To send Marc questions, praise or criticism, e-mail him at marc_schenker@telus.net

More Reading: FNC's Brit Hume calls Obama Administration Economically Illiterate, CSU Stanislaus Students Want Sarah Palin banned, Interview with Doc who allegedly Refused to Take Obama Voters

Sources:

Harry Reid "On the Record," Fox News

Cornhusker Kickback, Wikipedia

Harry Reid Trails Two Potential GOP Challengers By Double-Digits, Huffington Post

Generic Congressional Ballot, Rasmussen Reports