Report that White House threatens to close Nebraska military base to coerce Nelson to vote for health care

(Note: I’ve heard leftist MSNBC commentator Rachel Maddow declare with assurance that it is not true that the White House made such a threat.)

Quoting a report at the Weekly Standard, the website Stop the ACLU writes:

White House Threatens to Close Offutt Air Force Base If Nelson Doesn’t Vote for Obamacare
Posted on December 15, 2009

Quite an explosive leak! I wonder how this will affect things? It is certainly a thuggish and dangerous thing for Obama to play with National Security over this craptacular idea of socialized medicine. Quite a desperate move.

According to a Senate aide, the White House is now threatening to put Nebraska’s Offutt Air Force Base on the BRAC list if Nelson doesn’t fall into line.

Offutt Air Force Base employs some 10,000 military and federal employees in Southeastern Nebraska. As our source put it, this is a “naked effort by Rahm Emanuel and the White House to extort Nelson’s vote.” They are “threatening to close a base vital to national security for what?” asked the Senate staffer.

Indeed, Offutt is the headquarters for US Strategic Command, the successor to Strategic Air Command, and not by accident. STRATCOM was located in the middle of the country for strategic reasons. Its closure would be a massive blow to the economy of the state of Nebraska, but it would also be another example of this administration playing politics with our national security.

So much for the idea of Obama trying to save jobs and improve the economy!

Without Nelson’s vote, since all Republicans are still in line to oppose this, Reid is still left with 59 votes. So, some arm twisting is taking place. Nelson doesn’t want this bill to fund abortions so he is now being threatened, and national security along with him. How shameful this would be if Democrats felt shame.

Ed Morrissey:

The Obama administration has little left to use for leverage. Why not national security? After all, if we’re going to bring terrorists into Illinois, what does it matter if we put the US Strategic Command on wheels for a few years?

What a nightmare!

Posted by Lawrence Auster at December 17, 2009 12:30 PM | Send