Cornhusker Kickback Case Analysis

vast majority of supporters concluded it was a minor part of the reform overall, and Congressional Democrats ' fight for it won various concessions, including conditional waivers allowing states to set up state-based public options such as Vermont 's Green Mountain Care.

With every other Democrat now in favor and every Republican now opposed. The White House and Reid moved on to addressing Nelson 's concerns in order to win filibuster-proof support for the bill; they had by this point concluded "it was a waste of time dealing with "because, after her vote for the draft bill in the Finance Committee, she had come under intense pressure from the Republican Senate leadership. A fter a final 13-hour negotiation, Nelson 's support for the bill

The latter half of the compromise was derisively called the "Cornhusker Kickback" and was repealed in the subsequent reconciliation amendment bill. On December 23, the Senate voted 60–39 to end debate on the bill: a cloture vote to end the filibuster. The bill then passed, also 60–39, on December 24, 2009, with all Democrats and two independents voting for it, and all Republicans against (except Jim Bunning, who did not vote).The bill was endorsed by the AMA and AARP. Several weeks later, on January 19, 2010, Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown was elected to the Senate in a special election to replace the late Ted Kennedy, having campaigned on giving the Republican minority the 41st vote needed to sustain Republican filibusters. The special election became significant to the reform debate because of its effects on the legislative process. The first was psychological: the symbolic importance of losing Kennedy 's traditionally Democratic Massachusetts seat made many Congressional Democrats concerned about the political cost of passing a bill. The second effect was more practical: the loss of the Democratic supermajority complicated reform proponents ' legislative strategy. President Obama signing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on March 23, 2010 Brown 's election meant