Health Care Reform CAN PASS using Reconciliation process. The reconciliation

[JohnWxy]

process is available to Congress when the bill in question affects the budget. Clearly, one of the main features of the HCR bill was to lower the deficit. Therefor reconciliation can be used. You need a majority to pass the legislation in reconciliation - this is so the filibuster can't be used to stop passage of bills affecting the budget.

The House needs to consider: should 4 crypto-Republicans be allowed to stop Health Care Reform when a strong majority of people want it and there are 56 votes in the Senate FOR the Public Option?


http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_fifty_vote_senate

The reconciliation process, by contrast, limits debate to 20 hours and bypasses the filibuster altogether. It was instituted to ensure that minority obstruction couldn't block important business like passing a budget or reducing the deficit.

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[pnwmom]

1. Regulatory issues CANNOT be passed in that fashion. Only strictly budget issues,

and only ones that can reduce the budget in 5 years, not 10.

The solution could be to pass this bill with the regulatory issues (the ban on pre-existing conditions, etc.) THEN to introduce a strong public option in a stand alone bill that would be subject to reconciliation. If we tried it in the reverse order, we would never get the 60 votes to pass the regulatory issues.

[valerief]

2. Expand Medicare for All with reconciliation!!! nt

[JohnWxy]

3. That of course, is not in the House bill. Reconciliation is not the time for adding to or modifying

either of the bills but for, well, reconciling them.