The Press and Reconciliation

Don't believe all the loaded language about what reconciliation is.

"The truth, of course, is simpler. The basic healthcare bill has already been passed in the Senate via normal order. The House can pass the Senate bill and President Obama can sign it into law via normal order. Changes to the bill that affect revenues and outlays — i.e., things that affect the budget — can then be tacked onto a budget bill later this year and passed on an up-or-down vote via the budget reconciliation process. Here's a reconciliation primer:

• It was created in 1974 as a way of ensuring that annual budgets could be passed without being filibustered.
• It has been used to pass the annual budget in all but seven years since 1980. It's a routine procedure used by both Republicans and Democrats.
• It was used to pass Ronald Reagan's 1981 tax cut and both of George Bush's big tax cuts.
• It was used to pass welfare reform.
• Virtually every healthcare reform of the past three decades, including COBRA, EMTALA, S-CHIP, and others has been passed via reconciliation."

Health Care Bill already had 60 votes in December. It has passed the House vote, too. Reconciliation does nothing more than allow a simple majority vote to pass budgetary issues and that it's been used routinely by both parties for decades. That's just the simple truth.

Source: Kevin Drum