Corbett questions “Nebraska Compromise”

In  a thinly-veiled attempt to make up for the 1994 college football rankings, Attorney General — and GOP gubernatorial front-runner —  Tom Corbett is launching an investigation into the constitutionality of the deal Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid  cut with Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson.

Nelson, as you may recall, was the 60th Democrat to back health care. His support stymied a GOP filibuster, and set the state for tomorrow morning’s Senate vote.  In exchange for his “yes” vote, Nebraska is exempt from increased Medicaid payments…forever.

Corbett doesn’t like that.  He says, “Medicaid expenses for Pennsylvania total approximately $15 billion per year and the Nelson amendment raises serious constitutional questions about imposing federal costs and mandates that treat one state differently from all the others.” He’s worried the deal “could have dire consequences for Pennsylvania taxpayers,” who, along with the taxpayers of 48 other states, would presumably shell out money for Cornhuskers’ medical bills until the Second Coming. (Or until December 2012, I suppose.)

Corbett’s not the only A-G looking into the deal. Spokesman Kevin Harley says the probe could lead to a lawsuit, but that it’s too early to predict whether that’s likely.

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