The Reconciliation Ruse?

Fox News put together a good two minute primer on reconciliation. It ends on a positive note, suggesting voters have the final say through their wrath or approval in November. This doesn't necessarily mean that anything done between now and then is easily undone however. It should be noted, the possibility remains the House could pass the Senate bill at any point this year including in a lame duck session between the midterms and the opening of a new Congress. The Senate bill remains live until this session closes in December so the possibility exists that the Senate bill could be signed into law at any point this year.

For now the battle is in the House of Representatives and the goal is for the House to pass the Senate bill. Is reconciliation a ruse or a requirement to achieve that goal?  Senator Judd Gregg says it's a ruse:

"If you're in the House and you're saying, 'Well, I'm going to vote for this because I'm going to get a reconcilation bill,' I would think twice about that," Gregg said. "First because, procedurally, it's going to be hard to put a reconciliation bill through the Senate. Second because I'm not sure there's going to be a lot of energy to do it, from the president or his people."

"In my opinion, reconciliation is an exercise for buying votes, which, once they have the votes they really don't need it," he said.

Senator Lindsey Graham  agrees.   I believe there is genuine apprehension and distrust in the House they will take another walk off a cliff for ObamaCare only to find the Senate failing to pass the fixes or leaving them stuck with a bill that members of the House truly dislike.   Worse still, the House is far more likely to switch hands in this election than the Senate and it will be the House that must stick its neck out first - yet again.  While the Fox piece on reconciliation is correct the voters final say in November may be what influences separate members of the House to think twice before voting again for this bill, we don't have to wait until November to make our displeasure known.  Reconciliation may be a ruse, only time will tell.  The real threat here is the legislation that Obama will surely sign if only he can convince enough of the vulnerable in Congress to take another walk on the plank for his presidential legacy.



Via Memeorandum