This is a class blog for the students of POLSCI 426: Congressional Politics at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.
The Use of Reconciliation 1980-2008
My friend (and sometimes co-author) Brendan Nyhan wrote up a nice blog post on the historical uses of Reconciliation in the Senate this past April. With Obama urging on the Democrats to pass healthcare reform, it seems timely now.
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2 comments:
I think that while reconciliation has been used for budget issues, major legislation such as Social Security and Medicare actually had broad bipartisan support. This particular healthcare bill is considered as major as well in terms of the change in structure it could bring to the healthcare system.
This type of bill I believe is not what reconciliation should be used for. I think major legislation that could drastically alter our system needs to have a broad consensus and not 50 senators and one VP. This is not the correct way to handle healthcare problem. I think the American public will resent one party essentially forcing a change like this one the country. I think if the Republicans had forced the privatization of Social Security on the American public in this way it would have been costly for them as well. I think the basic point is that it does not seem right that one party should be making such a change without making a real effort, not just a three week effort, but maybe one that takes years. It has to be done right, not quickly. The stimulus package, and the Iraq war are proof of what happens when things are pushed too quickly.
maybe it's the despot in me, but i'm tempted to just let them have it, let the democrats use reconciliation to force this through and to hell with democracy. now i don't feel entirely at home with the idea of reconciliation; or believe it shatters the framework of democracy, maybe it's the current portrayal of it by Republicans and some media, but there is some precedent. i'm looking at the long term here. in my opinion if this debate over health care is drawn out even more and a compromise is amicably reached by the Democrats and Republicans the final bill is going to be so watered down it will hardly be worth the fuss. from a historical perspective, if Democrats are willing to take heat for the use of reconciliation on this i think most of us will thank them in the long run. i'm letting emotion take over on this one but i'm sick of this whole thing. Republicans are clearly just grandstanding on this issue. claims of deficit spending or whatever else they conjure up are just machinations designed to help them at the polls, they don't really care. i suppose the problem with the upcoming midterm elections and beyond the Republicans might make an attempt at dismantling portions of the bill and alter it completely. so i guess compromise is the best option, but i worry what the final bill might look like and if it will really change things significantly for the better.
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