Porked Up and Loving It

By: John Fund

The Senate’s health care bill is chock full of favors, payoffs, special deals and exemptions, but Majority Leader Harry Reid is proud of his handiwork, calling it an art form — “the art of compromise.”

“There are 100 senators here, and I don’t know that there’s a senator that doesn’t have something in this bill that isn’t important to them,” Mr. Reid told reporters. “If they don’t have something in it important to them, then it doesn’t speak well of them.”

But some Democratic Senators view such a shameless defense of the bill’s pork elements as throwing them under the bus. Some senators obviously are more equal than others: Not all were able or willing to exploit their leverage to extract crass favors for their states.

Take Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, who currently trails all of her potential GOP challengers. “What did Blanche Lincoln get for the people of Arkansas in exchange for her vote?” asks state Sen. Gilbert Baker, one of her possible GOP challengers. “Looks like she got them nothing more than unfunded mandates and government-controlled health care.” Mrs. Lincoln’s office responded by noting that she authored language allowing small businesses to receive tax credits if they provide health coverage.

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