The 'ObamaCare' waivers in Nancy Pelosi's district: 'Corrupt'?

The Daily Caller reports that a startling one in five of the new waivers to Obama's health care reform law went to businesses in Pelosi's district

Conservatives accuse Nancy Pelosi of favoritism as her district received 20 percent of the "ObamaCare" waivers, which could be a liability for Democrats.
(Image credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Almost 20 percent of the waivers handed out in April that exempt companies from parts of last year's health care overhaul went to businesses in House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's (D) San Francisco district, says Matthew Boyle at The Daily Caller. Of the 204 one-year waivers, 38 went to "fancy eateries, hip nightclubs, and decadent hotels" in Pelosi's district, allowing those businesses to keep their lower-cost employee health plans for now. In a statement to The Daily Caller, Sarah Palin called those numbers "unflippingbelievable," adding, "Seriously, this is corrupt." Is it really?

How is this not cronyism? "The odds of one representative getting 20 percent of a batch of waivers from the Obama administration as a coincidence seems rather high," says Ed Morrissey at Hot Air. I'd like to know just how these waivers are approved by the federal Health and Human Services agency. Given the "high percentage of unions and party leader constituents" among the recipients, this sure looks like "a mechanism for political payoffs."

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