[TheRealThing]

Time to eat a little crow fellow conservatives. Remember the Cornhusker Kickback in which Sen Ben Nelson (D) sold a yes vote on ObamaCare for a 45 million dollar tax exemption for his home state of Nebraska? How about Sen Bernie Sanders (I) Vt and the 10 billion worth of federal funding for new health centers in Vermont? Carl Levin (D) Mich got a similar deal to Nebraska's, package. Pennsylvania, New York and Florida – all won protections for their Medicare Advantage beneficiaries. Democratic Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu was given 300 million for her state's Medicaid coffers.[Politico] We (conservatives) were appalled by this shamelessly blatant approach to vote buying, and to add insult to injury, it was done with our federal tax dollars.

Now, thanks to Senator Chuck Grassley's bill, comes time for Congress to feel the same pain as the rest of us by going under the burdensome weight of ObamaCare like the rest of us. Why would administration officials blink when folks are so easily bought these days? I mean, buying folks has worked like a charm so far. As the result of that simple and very accurate calculation, Republican and Democratic Congressional Members and their staff have been given a sweetheart deal with which to pay for the luxury level health care to which they have become accustomed. Did any Republicans who may have been suffering from righteous indignation reject the special treatment in the name of personal ethics or concern for their beleaguered constituency? I haven't heard of a single one yet.

"This morning, the Obama Administration released a proposed 'rule' by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that has the effect of allowing Members of Congress and their staffs to buy health insurance coverage in the new exchanges (as required by Obamacare) and use the large, tax-free subsidy that they receive for their current coverage under the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program (FEHBP) to pay for their new exchange coverage." http://blog.heritage.org/2013/08/07/admi...-congress/

Republicans had a chance to put their money where their mouth is and failed miserably. It was too easy.

[JamesSanders00]

According to a new report, typical families might pay almost two times as much under the Romney healthcare program than they would under so-called "Obamacare." Article source: Families would pay double under Romney healthcare plan