Political buyoffs do not carry out the people's work

The fact that we've known since the beginning of time that politicians negotiate sweetheart deals to get legislation passed doesn't do anything to lessen the anger we feel over the Senate health care bill. This isn't about disagreeing with needed improvements. It is about "buying" votes by offering special gifts for states.

We have believed all along that our health care system needs to be fixed. We still do. And many of the things in this Senate-approved version look good. What is confounding is that politicians who should know better play this game of holding up a bill until they get a pork payout for their vote. That's extortion.

The last Democratic holdout was Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., who received changed language regarding abortions, as well as millions for a project in Nebraska. We have no problems with language changes, but when it comes to pork projects, that's no good.

Yes, this kind of thing has gone on since the beginning of our government. Heck, it's been going on since the beginning of any government. But we thought President Obama was elected into office for a different kind of leadership, one that's open, transparent and without the silly political games that leaves so many people angry. Granted, this is Congress, not the president, but he should demand a cleaner system.

This health care bill should have been passed without any such nonsense. No pork should have been written into the bill to gain support. If wording or substantive changes were required, fine, but no scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. This is too important to be tainted.

It's almost comical watching Republicans scream and holler about this. They've been doing the exact same thing for just as long as the Democrats. I'm sure the biggest GOP critics will soon see their past pork payouts aired for everyone to see. But that's not the point. No one should be doing it.

Our Constitution calls for a deliberative body to make laws, but says nothing about buying off legislators. Perhaps this practice has been done from the beginning, but it's time for it to stop. Nothing turns citizens against government more than this baloney.