Obamacare payoff: WH picks Max Baucus as ambassador to China...

Sen. Max Baucus was key to getting Obamacare passed through the Senate. He would have faced a tough challenge if he ran for re-election.

Via WaPo:

The White House is set to select outgoing Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) as its pick for ambassador to China, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and a Baucus ally confirmed Wednesday.
Baucus, 72, previously announced that he won't seek reelection to the Senate in 2014.
Senate aides familiar with the plans said that the move has been in the works for several days.
The news was first reported by Politico. Baucus aides declined to comment Wednesday evening when asked about it outside the Senate Chamber.
As chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, Baucus played a key role in crafting President Obama's health-care law and was among the first Democrats to publicly fret about the law's implementation -- worries that later turned out to be well-founded.

Payoff? Did Mitch McConnell sell his betrayal of conservatives for a $2 Billion earmark for a Kentucky project?

I am shamed to have ever voted for Mitch McConnell. I won't make that mistake ever again.

Via WFPL:

Language in a draft of the McConnell-Reid deal (see page 13, section 123) provided to WFPL News shows a provision that increases funding for the massive Olmsted Dam Lock in Louisville from $775 million to nearly $2. 9 billion.
The dam is considered an important project for the state and region in regards to water traffic along the Ohio River.

Democrats Payoff AMA for Obamacare Support

Democrats instructed the CBO to not include the "Doc Fix" cost when they calculated the cost savings of Obamacare because it would have caused the bill to be calculated as increasing the deficit. They even put out a memo urging Democrats to not talk about the "Doc Fix" cost. Medicare reimbursements are scheduled to be cut 21% at the first of April. Now that Obamacare has passed, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has decided to not implement this cut in anticipation Congress will pass a bill restoring this money. Republicans should use every avenue to block this payoff.

BusinessWeek reported:

Doctors slated to have their Medicare reimbursements cut 21 percent on April 1....

‘Stupak 11′ Request $3.4 Billion in Earmarks. Is This a Payoff?

The ‘Stupak 11′ requested $3.4 billion in earmarks the next day after their crucial vote to allow the government to take over our health care. Undoubtedly, this request will be looked on favorably by the Democratic leadership in Congress. I have no proof this is a 'Quid Pro Quo,' but it stinks to high heaven.

From Sunlight Foundation via Gateway Pundit:

A day after Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., and ten other House members compromised on their pro-life position to deliver the necessary yes-votes to pass health care reform, the “Stupak 11″ released their fiscal year 2011 earmark requests, which total more than $3.4 billion...

Stupak requested more than $578 million in earmarks, including $125 million for a replacement lock on the Sault Ste. Marie, $25.6 million to build a federal courthouse in Marquette, Mich., $15 million to repaint the Mackinac Bridge and $800,000 to preserve the Quincy Mining Company smelter near Hancock in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.