"At the very least, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) thinks the readers of his op-ed piece in the Washington Post that takes the Democrats to task for "misusing" the rules of the Senate don't remember that the Republicans have used reconciliation more often than the Democrats and that as far back as 1982 it was used to pass major pieces of legislation like COBRA, CHIP, and more recently, the Bush tax cuts. Or he thinks we don't understand the concept that reconciliation is not being used to pass the healthcare bills; the Senate version passed with 60 votes and the House version passed by a simple majority. Reconciliation is used to reconcile the differences between the two bills -- hence the term "reconciliation." So for him to say that the Democrats are "jamming" the bill through is disingenuous bullshit (as opposed to the genuous variety).On the other hand, this volley might be an admission on the part of earnest Mr. Hatch that the Republicans realize that their obstruction, shouting, whining, whimpering, and high dudgeon has come to naught and that the healthcare reform bill will pass. This then is their opening shot in the campaign to repeal the law. Fine; I'd love to see the Republicans go around the country and explain exactly why it would be a good thing to let the insurance companies run the show again and that you can lose your health insurance because you once had acne, got pregnant, or the medicine that might save your life costs too much; or the local ER is better suited to take care of your family's medical needs than a regular physician. How stupid is that?"
When Republicans are in the majority they want unlimited power, when out of power they complain about Democrats using the same rules.
Name me how many times the Republicans needed 60 votes in the Senate during the Bush Plunder?
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