It took some sweetheart deals from Harry Reid to obtain 60 votes for the healthcare bill passage. Senator Ben Nelson and Mary Landrieu broker deals that fit their states unique benefit. Some call it sweetheart deals and they say it is a common pratice in politics. I say it is out and out bribery and could be considered illegal. http://law.jrank.org/pages/573/Bribery-Modern-law.html
The online Merriam-Webster dictionary states that bribery is “money or favor given or promised in order to influence the judgment or conduct of a person in a position of trust”. Those sweetheart deals sound like bribery to me.