The Louisiana Democrats released a snarky little statement today, calling out Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), who has introduced a health care amendment to the try to prevent states from providing drugs like Viagra to convicted sex offenders.
Said the Dems of Coburn: “Surely he would agree that anyone who has admitted or been found guilty of involvement with prostitution should not be covered either.”
Coburn’s amendment seeks to cut off federal funds to those on Medicaid who are “convicted sex offenders, child molesters, and rapists,” because sexual enhancement drugs are covered under the program.
We reported earlier that the Republican strategy to derail the reconciliation bill is to force Democrats to vote down politically juiced-up amendments so that they can paint Dems as sympathetic to sex offenders and fraudsters in November.
And Louisiana Democrats are wondering why prostitution wasn’t included in there:
If Senator Coburn believes that federal law should not allow coverage of erectile dysfunction medications to folks whose impulses have led them to break the law, then surely he would agree that anyone who has admitted or been found guilty of involvement with prostitution should not be covered either.
Then they get really snarky:
Of course, there’s a slight chance that Senator Coburn’s amendment is simply a partisan ploy aimed at neutering health care reform. In which case, our only suggestion to Senator Coburn is to stop playing games and get serious.
Perhaps the LA Dems had Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), who has been known to dally with prostitutes in the past, on their minds when crafting that statement.
