Senator Nelson Threaten with Base Closure if He Votes Against Health Care Bill?

IF this is true this is the last STRAW.

What If Mary Landrieu does not vote the right way do we lose Barksdale AFB or Fort Polk? If and I mean If this is true Obama has no idea what he has stepped into!

Source: Dems Threaten Nelson In Pursuit of 60
While the Democrats appease Senator Lieberman, they still have to worry about other recalcitrant Democrats including Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson. Though Lieberman has been out front in the fight against the public option and the Medicare buy-in, Nelson was critical of both. Now that those provisions appear to have been stripped from the bill, Lieberman may get on board, but Nelson's demand that taxpayer money not be used to fund abortion has still not been met. 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.

Posted by Michael Goldfarb on December 15, 2009 12:41 PM Permalink

NOTE TO FOLKS RUNNING THE WHITE HOUSE- That Scene From G.I. Jane where the Senator was threatened. Uh that was just a movie not real life.

Update- The White House has a history of this. They held the Medicare funds and issues relating o the Charity Hospital hostage too (Sorry if you have not read that headline on various Catholic Social Justice Sites. They appear not too concerned) . There it was the poor getting screwed. Now it might be our National Security.