Landrieu's Vote Came with a Price

Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu was one of the wavering votes Democratic leaders needed to reach the magic 60 number that would clear the way for the health care reform bill to get to the Senate floor, and her decision to vote with the party came after she was offered a sweetener of at least $100 million in extra federal aid for her state, the Washington Post reports.

Dana Milbank, the paper's often caustic chronicler of Washington, said staffers on Capitol Hill were calling it the "Louisiana purchase," the state Landrieu represents.

But Landrieu made clear her vote was not a sure thing as the Senate goes to work on the bill and more votes come up.

"My vote today," she said, "should in no way be construed by the supporters of this current framework as an indication of how I might vote as this debate comes to an end." Among the concessions she'll seek: more tax credits for small business and a removal of the version of the "public option" now in the bill.

Asked about the sweetener for Landrieu, Sen. Charles Schumer said on CBS' Face the Nation said "Mary Landrieu is a very good legislator, and she does two things very well. One, she delivers the goods for Louisiana. She has constantly, and I think the people of Louisiana respect her for it. "

But on ABC's This Week, GOP Sen. Jon Kyl said, "You haven't heard Republicans saying, here is my price. That's the problem when you have to get 60 and people in your caucus have severe reservations about the bill. In order to get every single vote, sometimes you do resort to things that appeal to a particular senator, or in the case of the House, to a particular representative. The American people don't like that when they see it. "