It’s being widely reported that Obama will use the ‘nuclear option’ today to get the health care bill passed. Reconciliation.
The plan to pass the bill includes having the House of Representatives pass the Democratic Senate health care reform legislation as well as a second bill containing various “fixes.”
The president will call for an up or down vote on health care reform, as has happened in the past, and though he won’t use the word “reconciliation,” he’ll make it clear that if they’re not given an up or down vote, Democrats will use the reconciliation rules as Republicans have done in the past.White House officials will make the argument these rules are perfectly appropriate because the procedure is not being used for the whole bill, just for some fixes; because reconciliation rules are traditionally used for deficit reduction and health care reform will reduce the deficit; and because the reconciliation process has been used many times by Republicans for larger legislation such as the tax cuts pushed by President George W. Bush.
Mr. Obama will say that he will be working on exact legislative language in the next few days. Republicans can join him and Democratic congressional leaders of the House and Senate to makes these changes and to pass the bill, but either way the bill will be moving forward.
…which will be his way of saying -once again: Screw you; I can take this country over the cliff all by myself.
And tax cuts is ‘larger’ than this sweeping takeover? Hardly.
As Senator Conrad (D-N.D.), chairman of the Senate Budget Committee stated, reconciliation will not work for health care:
“…reconciliation cannot be used to pass comprehensive health care reform. It won’t work. It won’t work because it was never designed for that kind of significant legislation. It was designed for deficit reduction… The major package of health care reform cannot move through the reconciliation process. It will not work… It will not work because of the Byrd rule which says anything that doesn’t score for budget purposes has to be eliminated. That would eliminate all the delivery system reform, all the insurance market reform, all of those things the experts tell us are really the most important parts of this bill. The only possible role that I can see for reconciliation would be make modest changes in the major package to improve affordability, to deal with what share of Medicaid expansion the federal government pays, those kinds of issues, which is the traditional role for reconciliation in health care.”
Wow… at least one Democrat is capable of telling the truth…
From iOTW:
3. March 2010 at 9:06 am
3. March 2010 at 9:47 am
3. March 2010 at 9:37 am
There needs to be a smiley where it’s banging its head against a wall. That’s how I feel right now.
3. March 2010 at 9:48 am
I had one… don’t know where it got to… maybe we over used it and it died…
3. March 2010 at 2:58 pm
Once again the Big O decides that America’s best health gift would be an enema. Because he’s convinced he THE ONE to save us and we’re convinced that we’re being stuck up the ass about this piece of crap legislation that we’ve repeatedly yelled “POO” about. (Sorry for the potty references, but must call a spade a spade.)
3. March 2010 at 3:24 pm
Well, if poo is flung then we must identify it as poo.
3. March 2010 at 4:09 pm
A new visual of the Democrats in office – Monkeys flinging poo at the glass walls they live in!
Duck and cover!
3. March 2010 at 4:12 pm
3. March 2010 at 4:11 pm
I love the photo. I need that for my office in a nice 11×17.
3. March 2010 at 4:13 pm
IOTW has scads of awesome graphics!
4. March 2010 at 5:43 pm
you know – you are missing the big picture – the doctors are getting more then the lawyers so the lawyers are pissed off – the reason this must be passed is the doctors are getting all the kickbacks from the drug companies and aristocrat lawyers that govern us need it for their friends & family and the wonderful people that have given them the money to take over the country -
4. March 2010 at 5:58 pm
Hmmmmm…. I’m trying to understand this…