Landrieu Blames ABC Report of $100 Million Buy-off on 'Very Partisan Republican Bloggers' (video)

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., announced she would support the cloture vote to start debate on Harry Reid's version of Obamacare. This is not surprising considering the $100 million buy-off Harry Reid put in the bill to buy encourage her to vote yes. She blames Republican bloggers for the story and denies that only Louisiana will receive the money.



Analysts disagree with Landrieu's assessment.

From Newsbusters:

But Landrieu's assertion that "any other state" would be eligible isn't completely honest, as Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer pointed out on Fox News Nov. 20.

"If you look at the sections, it is 2006 in which the Louisiana money, it looks as if it is provision for all states which have had a proclamation of a disaster area in the last seven years, and then the fine print inside eliminates all the others except Louisiana," Krauthammer said.

NOLA.com reports Landrieu is claiming Louisiana is getting $300 million in Medicare money.

Landrieu was able to insert language into the bill that would specifically benefit Louisiana, by protecting the state from the full effects of what the Jindal administration has warned would be a devastating drop in federal Medicaid funding in 2011 due to an anomalous spike in per capita income in the state because of a rush of recovery money into the state in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The Congressional Budget Office priced the so-called FMAP fix for Louisiana at $100 million, but Landrieu said she expects it will bring $300 million or more in Medicaid funding to the state.