Judas would be proud. Meet Ben Nelson, soon to be ex-senator from Nebraska:

Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.), the final Democratic holdout on health care, announced to his caucus Saturday morning that he would support the Senate reform bill, clearing the way for final passage by Christmas.

“We’re there,” said Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), as he headed into a special meeting to outline the deal.

Democratic leaders spent days trying to hammer out a deal with Nelson, and worked late Friday night with him on abortion coverage language that had proved the major stumbling block. Nelson also secured other favors for his home state.

They didn’t “work with him” on abortion, he caved on it based on those “other favors” he secured. To wit:

Nelson has recently complained that the proposed expansion of Medicaid to those earning below 133% of the Federal Poverty Line (FPL) would burden his state of Nebraska and suggested that states should be able to opt-in to the program.

Under the current merged legislation (the version unveiled on November 18th), the federal government fully finances care for the expanded population for two years and increases its matching funds (known as FMAP) thereafter. Page 98 of the managers amendment specifically identifies Nebraska for higher federal matching funds, fully funding its expansion for an additional year…

That’s probably worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Nebraska, representing the modern-day equivalent of 30 pieces of silver to turn your back on the citizens of Nebraska and, indeed, America as a whole. To borrow a favored Obama phrase, let me be clear: The American people do NOT want this bill. The oft-repeated assertion that everyone is clamoring for ObamaCare is laughable and a lie. The more people hear about it, the less they want it and yes, the more they prefer the status quo. And yet, Reid is insisting on shoving this down our throats and plans a vote before Christmas…when he still hasn’t released the final Senate bill!!!

When premiums skyrocket as a result of this monstrosity, when the deficit balloons further and healthcare costs continue to soar as the quality of care decreases, be sure to remember who is to blame and the f’ed up process they used to make it happen. Ample time for debate? Transparency? Bipartisanship? Just words. President Wonderful and his merry band of congressional socialists may talk the good talk, but the real goal here is enslaving more to the federal government and, by extension, the Democrat Party. Make no mistake about it.