Why would reconciliation have “technical & procedural issues”? I thought the Dims could ram it through w/ only 51 votes w/ reconciliation.
The existing rules would not allow a bill of this scope to be passed this way. Not to say the Rats couldn’t brazen it out and go nuclear and change the rules, but even that would have to wait for the new Congress.
Because someone on here, in the know, mentioned that the bill would need to be passed piecemeal. Some of it would need 51 votes, some 60, and parts would expire with the budget it has to be attached to. It is not a good option for anything complicated, apparantly.
Reconciliation is for budget/revenue legislation. Key provisions in the RAT healthcare bill (like the individual mandate) are not about the federal budget/revenue and therefore cannot be passed this way. IOW, a bill done this way would be full of holes.
A sunset clause generally applies to bills passed this way. So the law would be temporary, like the Bush tax cuts.
It won’t work IMHO.
The reconciliation process can only be used for budget reconciliation. The bill would have to be stripped of everything but its taxes and spending elements -- no other mandates or structural re-organization of the government would be allowed.
Of course, we're dealing with a Democratic majority that has no respect for the Constitution or Senate rules and procedures. So, they still might try it...