It Ain’t Necessarily So

        Reconciliation is something you wish for after a spat with your spouse that’s put you in the doghouse for three days. It’s what we hope to accomplish with the checkbook at the end of the month or to achieve with a rich uncle before he changes his will.

        Funny how a word that usually denotes harmony should be so disruptive today. In recent months, the word “reconciliation” has been batted around by bloggers and journalists more than a tennis ball at Wimbledon. The disputed legislative process is usually prefaced with the word “budget.” By writing the health care proposal as a budget reconciliation bill, only 51 votes are needed for passage, which means it cannot be axed by the threat of a “procedural filibuster.”

        The thought of a health care bill passing by a simple majority is causing Republicans to gnash their teeth and rent their garments in protest. Sen. John McCain calls the idea “catastrophic;” Sen. Kyle (R-AZ) declares the procedure “was never designed for a large, comprehensive piece of legislation;” and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) called the proposed action “unprecedented.”

        They forget—by choice—that COBRA legislation allowing people to keep their health insurance when they change jobs was part of a reconciliation bill, as was CHIP, the children’s health insurance for low-income families. For 30 years, major changes to health care laws have passed by budget reconciliation. During the George W. Bush era, Congress enacted three major tax cuts by using the reconciliation process. The procedure has been used more than twenty times since 1981, mostly by Republicans.

        Senate Majority Leader Reid told Sen. Lamar Alexander at the health care summit: “You’re entitled to your opinion, but not your own facts.” But Republicans have found that their slack-jawed, drooling audiences lobotomized by a steady diet of Fox News are all too willing to let someone else do their thinking for them. As long as they do, GOP candidates and talking heads will spout nonsense and non-sequitur with little regard for the particulars—or the consequences.