UPDATE: Michelle Malkin blogs that, “Landrieu boasts that her payoff was $300 million, not $100 million…”
This week the American people find themselves paying for Louisiana again, though Thomas Jefferson got a better deal than Harry Reid. Jefferson purchased over 800,000 square miles of land in the heart of what was to become our nation. Reid has purchased one vote to ensure the nation will take its next step into Socialism on Saturday night.
From Wikipedia: The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of 828,800 square miles of the French territory Louisiana in 1803. The U.S. paid 60 million francs ($11,250,000) plus cancellation of debts worth 18 million francs ($3,750,000), a total cost of 15 million dollars for the Louisiana territory…
…The purchase was a vital moment in the presidency of Thomas Jefferson. At the time, it faced domestic opposition as being possibly unconstitutional. Although he felt that the US Constitution did not contain any provisions for acquiring territory, Jefferson decided to purchase Louisiana because he felt uneasy about France and Spain having the power to block American trade access to the port of New Orleans.
Napoleon Bonaparte, upon completion of the agreement, stated, “This accession of territory affirms forever the power of the United States, and I have given England a maritime rival who sooner or later will humble her pride.”
Sen. Mary Landrieu holds off on taking health care stand, while pressing for aid for Louisiana
WASHINGTON (Nov. 20) — Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., remained mum Thursday on whether she will deliver a crucial vote Saturday night to enable the Senate to debate health-care reform when it returns from the Thanksgiving holiday.
But Landrieu has already succeeded in adding a provision to the 2,074-page Senate version of the health care bill unveiled this week that would provide Louisiana between $100 million and $300 million in Medicaid funding in fiscal 2011.
“Look,” said [Louisiana secretary of health and hospitals] Alan Levine, who has been lobbying the administration and Congress on the FMAP issue for eight months, “it’s good to have a senator in a position to be able to make demands like that.“
