Sen. Harkin: Bribes, Closed-Door Deals are "Small Stuff"

Meredith Jessup | December 22, 2009 11:14 AM

From CBS News comes a poignant picture at the mindset of Democrat Senators amidst one of the biggest policy debates in decades.

When asked about the widespread criticism of Democrats' deal-making with taxpayer funds to garner 60 Senate votes for Obamacare, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, responded today that Dems were only trying to keep focused on the bigger picture; "trying to cross a demarcation line."

Harkin dismissed deals dubbed vote-buying by GOP senators as "small stuff" that distracted Americans from the primary focus of the overhaul bill.

"We have to keep our eyes on what we're trying to do here. We're trying to cross a demarcation line." ... "On one side is health care as a privilege, on the other side is health care as a right. With these votes, with the vote that we'll take before Christmas, we will cross that line finally and say that health care is a right of all Americans."

The message on health care reform is pretty clear from the Capitol and the White House: We don't care what you have to do or how you have to do it, just get it done.

Gee, this is just how I want decisions about my health care made...