To Reconcile Or Not To Reconcile

The health care summit was held yesterday and I don’t think Obama and the Democrats were ready for the Republicans who came ready to discuss issues. In the end the thing was a waste of time because Obama’s position was basically, here is what I want now sign on or we will have to use reconciliation.

What? Come now Big Dog. Reconciliation was addressed a number of times by Republicans and the Democrats said that no one was discussing using it. As an aside, please do not get confused between reconciliation and the filibuster as Rachael Maddow did. Harry Reid said this:

No one has said — I read what the President has online — no one has talked about reconciliation but that’s what you folks have talked about ever since that came out, as if it’s something that has never been done before.” (“Transcript: White House Health Summit, Morning Session,” Kaiser Health News, 2/25/10)

So there you have it right from Harry Reid, no one has been discussing this except the Republicans who are getting all worked up over nothing.

According to The Hill, Harry Reid was interviewed and in a posting from 2/20/10 Reid was indeed discussing reconciliation.

“I’ve had many conversations this week with the president, his chief of staff, and Speaker Pelosi,” Reid said during an appearance Friday evening on “Face to Face with Jon Ralston” in Nevada. “And we’re really trying to move forward on this.”

The majority leader said that while Democrats have a number of options, they would likely use the budget reconciliation process to pass a series of fixes to the first healthcare bill passed by the Senate in November. These changes are needed to secure votes for passage of that original Senate bill in the House.

“We’ll do a relatively small bill to take care of what we’ve already done,” Reid said, affirming that Democrats would use the reconciliation process. “We’re going to have that done in the next 60 days.”

Remember now, Harry Reid was before America at the summit and said no one was discussing this. No one was discussing it except him, Pelosi, Obama and his staff. All of these no ones have been discussing reconciliation.

So, if as Obama says, no one cares how this gets done or America does not care about the procedures, why did Harry Reid lie?

The reality is that a lot of people do not like this bill. People like parts of it but they do not like it, especially how much it will cost and all the unnecessary things that give government more control over our lives. Reid lied because he knows people do not like it and it would be real difficult for him to explain why reconciliation has been decided upon prior to the summit.

Reid is a liar and he will lose come this November.

Remember folks, never trust a Democrat. The summit was full of deception and theater so they could say they tried.

Big Dog

Gunline

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4 Responses to “To Reconcile Or Not To Reconcile”

  1. victoria says:

    I think it said it all when John Boehner said to Obama,”the American people want us to scrap this thing and start over with a blank sheet of paper,”or something to that effect and Obama snapped back and said,”Let’s not return to the same old talking points that people keep using.” Now Mr. Boehner didn’t say, “the Republicans want”…or “this committee wants”…no he said “the American people want”….and it didn’t even phase Obama, he didn’t even listen nor care whatsoever. I think a lot of people saw and heard too.

    • Darrel says:

      [quote]”the American people want us to scrap this thing and start over with a blank sheet of paper,”>>

      DAR
      The talking point of: “Let’s scrap this thing and start over” is the exact equivalent of saying let’s kill health care reform.

      The American people don’t want that.

      Killing health care reform is what republicans want and have wanted from the start. Their desire for Obama to fail is greater than their desire for America to succeed. It’s pathetic.

      D.
      ——————-
      For the first time in 50 years, the US mens team beat Canada in a round of hockey at the Olympics. But as one Canadian pointed out….

      • victoria says:

        Sorry but you confuse health care reform with a power grab of more of the private sector. And another thing Obama failing means that America and the freedoms we have left succeed. I and millions of others want Obama to QUIT SPENDING MONEY AND TO KEEP HIS NOSE OUT OF MY HEALTH CARE.

  2. Darrel says:

    Bigd: “…do not get confused between reconciliation and the filibuster as Rachael Maddow did.>>

    DAR
    Actually, she was correcting the very purposeful and dishonest confusion many republicans (including you) have tried to create on this issue.

    Observe:

    “In 2005, former Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) coined the phrase “nuclear option” to describe a proposal to change filibuster rules for judicial nominations. After Republican strategists deemed the term a political liability, Republicans began to attribute it to Democrats. Fast-forward to today, and the term has shifted again: In just the past week, Fox News hosts Martha MacCalllum, Megyn Kelly, Glenn Beck, Greta Van Susteren, Sean Hannity and Bret Baier redefined the “nuclear option” to mean the unrelated process of using reconciliation to pass tweaks to the health care legislation.

    Rebranding the “nuclear option” not only gives conservatives a more ominous sounding phrase to replace the wonkish “reconciliation,” it also allows them to falsely accuse Democrats of hypocrisy for expressing opposition to the actual “nuclear option” in 2005 — as Fox News repeatedly did in using oppo-material promoted by the website of Fox favorite and unabashed partisan Andrew Breitbart.”

    Link.

    D.
    ——————-
    “Well, you shouldn’t have broken your wrist.”

    –Rush Limbaugh’s advice to a caller who couldn’t afford the $6,000 cost to treat his broken wrist. Link.

    Thus, the republican health care plan in a nut shell: “You shouldn’t have gotten sick.”