Health care ‘deals’ assailed in Reno

RENO -- The Obama administration's health care reforms would not be law without "corrupt deals" Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid cut to pass them against the will of most Americans, former New York GOP Gov. George Pataki said Monday.

Pataki assailed the Nevada Democrat before about 150 people at a rally in Reno as part of a national campaign to build support for repeal of the reforms.

Pataki said Reid agreed to special favors in negotiations with senators in Louisiana and Nebraska as the Senate majority leader sought the votes he needed to pass the reforms."They got those votes by things like the 'Louisiana Purchase' and the 'Cornhusker Kickback,' corrupt deals I have never seen in my life," said Pataki, a Republican who served three terms as governor ending in 2006.

Democrats ultimately cut from the final health care bill the special Medicaid funds for Nebraska that had become a symbol of backdoor deal making, but they retained a deal that Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu negotiated for her state, Louisiana.

Gov. Jim Gibbons, U.S. Rep. Dean Heller and Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki were among the prominent Nevada Republicans to address the crowd in Reno.