Over the past few weeks, the subject of reconciliation has become a political firestorm for Democrats in Congress, as well as, Republicans who continue to denounce its possible use. Now for the average American, this fight seems tedious and many fail to understand the use of reconciliation both past and its possible use in the future. In basic terms, reconciliation is a procedural rule of the Senate that prevents the possible use of a filibuster on any one piece of legislation, thus requiring a simple majority vote.
Now Republicans are charging that the use of reconciliation on the issue of healthcare reform is unprecedented. Most Americans would probably believe this being that they fail to understand or even seek to understand history. Now if Americans were to know that Republicans utilized reconciliation to pass the Bush Tax-Cuts. Americans fail to remember that President Regan, and Republicans in Congress used reconciliation to pass Regan’s entire economic agenda. So is this possible move by Democrats really unprecedented? The answer is no simply because, in the past 30 years,
Republicans have set the precedent for the use of reconciliation.
Also we as voters should also remember that reconciliation would not even be an issue if it wasn’t for the Republican opposition to every single aspect of any Democratic legislation. Take for instance Sen. Bunning’s opposition to unemployment extensions that was waged on the backs of America’s unemployed workers. This healthcare reform fight is being waged on the backs of America’s uninsured; who die by the millions every single year due to lack of health insurance.
Thus we should label the Republicans in Congress who continue to oppose simple legislation meant to enhance the lives of the average American from the Party of “No” to the Party of “Hell No”. Perhaps then Americans will realize that Republicans are not fighting to better America but to better those who already survive at the expense of the unemployed, the underemployed, the uninsured, and the uneducated.
