Reconciliation May Not Be Option for Health Care Bill

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February 03, 2010

Reconciliation May Not Be Option for Health Care Bill

For those wondering why Democrats haven't just used the budget reconciliation process to pass a health care bill with a simple majority, The Hill notes Republicans have found a loophole "that could allow them to offer an indefinite number of amendments."

"Though it has never been done, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) says he's prepared to test the Senate's stamina to block the Democrats from using the process to expedite changes to the health care bill."

"Experts on Senate procedural rules, from both parties, note that such a filibuster is possible. While reconciliation rules limit debate to 20 hours, senators lack similiar constraints on amendments and could conceivably continue offering them until 60 members agree to cut the process off."

David Waldman: "How would it work? Well, Republicans would basically have to stay on the Senate floor, coming up with amendment after amendment, and trying not to look too silly doing it. There would be no debate allowed on the amendments, since time would have expired (though they can sometimes grant themselves unanimous consent for a few minutes of debate if it's thought to be a worthy amendment), so it'd just be them and us, standing there on the floor, with them on C-SPAN2 trying desperately to come up with something new to say to keep the debate going."

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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February 03, 2010