Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Reconciliation Last Resort for Health Care?

With opposition to his favorite cause growing daily, this week Obama asked the left leaning blogosphere for support on his health care proposal. Apparently he held a conference call where someone asked him if he intended to use reconciliation process to get it passed. His answer was:
“Keep in mind that the way we had structured the reconciliation issue several months ago, we moved forward on the basis of the assumption that we can get a bill through the regular order and the regular process by October. If I think that that is not possible, then we are going to look at all of our options, including reconciliation.”

Reconciliation in the US Senate allows a bill to pass by rushing it to a vote by not allowing debate or amendments. Bills can pass with only 51 votes, not 60, since filibusters are forbidden. If you remember, back in April, Obama used reconciliation to pass his 2010 Budget. Incidentally, he even larded that budget with many health care measures. This man intends to change our health care system whether we want it or not.

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