Democrats
Unusual rules tactic could
trigger partisan brawl
The
Washington Times
Tuesday,
March 17, 2009
"Reconciliation"
is proving a divisive word on Capitol Hill, where it could trigger one of the
biggest partisan brawls of the year.
Despite growing
complaints from Republicans and even some Democrats, the Obama administration
and congressional leaders are seriously considering bypassing regular
legislative rules to push through some of their top policy priorities,
including health care and energy reform, by using the parliamentary maneuver
called reconciliation and, by doing so, avoiding Republican stalling tactics.
It may sound like an arcane
parliamentary debate, but a decision to add Mr. Obama's reforms to the final
budget bill that emerges from reconciling the House and Senate versions would
eliminate the filibuster -- the minority Republicans' most potent tool to
influence bills and slow down the Democratic majority.
In practice, Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid,
"Oh, I love 51 compared to
60," Mr. Reid said Thursday when asked if he was considering putting the
administration's energy cap-and-trade bill on the budget reconciliation
measure. "We certainly know that it is an alternative."
For those who do not understand, what
is said here is that Harry Reid can make all of Obama’s agenda part of a
reconciliation bill that has already been passed and only needs 51 votes to
make it law by passing the only check and balance left to the Republicans --ss the filibuster.
So that even with conservative Democrats siding with Republicans are not
enough to force debate and scrutiny of any one of Obama’s trillion dollar
programs.
Office of
Management and Budget chief Peter R. Orszag declined
to swear off the reconciliation route when testifying before the Senate Budget
Committee last week while saying the Obama administration preferred to use the
regular legislative process.
"We have to
keep everything on the table," Mr. Orszag said.
"We want to get these important things done this year."
If it remains on
the table, though, Mr. Orszag and Mr. Reid are
guaranteeing themselves a nasty fight.
"I really do
hope we follow the regular order around here," said Sen. Mark L. Pryor, a
centrist Democrat from
Courtly,
soft-spoken Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, Utah Republican, told the Dow Jones News
Service there would be "unholy hell unleashed" if the Obama health
care package were tacked onto the budget bill.