Rational Arguments

I’m starting to despair that no one in the media has any idea what they are talking about. I get why Republicans are trying to portray the passage of health care reform as some betrayal of principles or the tyranny of the majority, but it’s not.

Using reconciliation is not “ramming it through”.

Look – the bill has already passed through the Senate.  It got 60 votes.  It’s done.  Was that ramming it through?

Now, let’s say the House of Representatives passes the Senate bill, by a majority.  Is that ramming it through?

And then, the President signs the bill – passed by both houses of Congress.  Is that ramming it through?

No, it’s not.  It’s how laws (that overcome filibusters) are supposed to pass.  And then we would have health care reform.  No reconciliation.  No “ramming it through”.

That’s what the Democrats plan to do.

The bill will expand Medicaid, set up the exchanges, put in place an excise tax, establish subsidies, increase regulation – and everything else it’s supposed to do.  No reconciliation.  No ramming.

BUT – the House of Representatives and the Presiedent want to make some tweaks.  They want to delay and change the excise tax.  They want to increase the subsidies.  They want to add in another tax.  THAT’S what will go through reconciliation.

If the Republicans and the media want to outlaw reconciliation, health care reform could STILL PASS.  The House of Representatives can vote, and the President can sign.  Then we would just have the Senate bill as law. But no one is saying that.  They are claiming that the only way the bill passes at all is if it all goes through reconciliation.

That’s not true.  Stop saying it.

Politico reports that Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid are in talks for the House to pass the Senate bill if the Senate will tweak it in reconciliation:

Struggling to salvage health reform, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have begun considering a list of changes to the Senate bill in hopes of making it acceptable to liberal House members, according to sources familiar with the situation.

The changes could be included in separate legislation that, if passed, would pave the way for House approval of the Senate bill – a move that would preserve President Barack Obama’s vision of a sweeping health reform plan.

They also go on about the risks of doing this.  Yes, it will upset all the people who oppose reform, but that’s nothing new.  They also talk about the new “calls to slow down/pare back/etc.” but I don’t put much stock in those.  They won’t work.

There’s just as much risk, and arguably more, for them to just fail.

Moreover, I agree with Nate Silver that there is a big difference between hating the bill, and hating misinformation about the bill.  I think we may be seeing much more of the latter.

(h/t Paul Krugman)

Sarah Binder breaks it down.