Posted on 04/29/2009 8:25:20 PM PDT by Lorianne
Though Democrats are asking for bipartisan support, the resolution passed Wednesday suggests they are prepared to go it alone on healthcare and education reform. ___There’s a powerful weapon buried in the $3.6 trillion 2010 budget agreement that Congress passed Wednesday without any Republican support.
It’s a fast-track rule called reconciliation, and it means that the president can move two of his top priorities – healthcare and education reform – with only a simple majority of votes in the Senate, instead of the 60-vote threshold that has derailed countless reforms in the past.
President Obama, marking his 100th day in office Wednesday, won’t need to sign the agreement. It’s not legally binding. But it does lay a path for moving an ambitious agenda, including a plan to jump-start a conversion to cleaner energy. With budget reconciliation, it also gives the majority an edge in moving those priorities through the Senate.
Democrats had considered including the president’s third priority, clean energy reform, on a possible fast-track as well. But opposition from senators in coal-producing states proved too powerful an obstacle. On March 12, eight Democrats and 25 Republicans sent a letter to the Senate Budget Committee urging that reconciliation not be used to enact a cap-and-trade regime for controlling global warming. They warned that it was likely to impact “nearly every feature of the US economy.”
“Legislation so far-reaching should be fully vetted and given appropriate time for debate, something the budget reconciliation process does not allow,” they wrote.
In a booming voice during Wednesday evening’s vote, Sen. Robert Byrd (D) of West Virginia registered his opposition to the resolution over the possible use of reconciliation to pass health care and education reforms. It violates the intent and spirit of the budget process, he says.
(Excerpt) Read more at features.csmonitor.com ...
The democrats will own the whole of the end of America.
That will just about guaranteed the Civil War in the United States!
Just how much are we supposed to put up with the tyranny in our country?
I remember the Commie ‘RATS whining and crying when the GOP had control of the Congress. Pelosi was up there crying and whining that the GOP had to “share” power with them.
Do the Democrats not understand that a shrinking GDP is not something they will want to answer for all by themselves?
GOOD! They own it now, and they can’t invoke Senator Spector anymore saying that it is *bipartisan*
But - always provide a better plan at the same time.
Excellent. But how will they blame the Republicans when the economy and the country goes down the toilet?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.