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blogs.tnr.com - 4/24/2009

Reconciliation Now Has a Date: October 15

— blogs.tnr.com — It's been in the works for a while and now, according to senior Captiol Hill staffers, it's a done deal: The final budget resolution will include a "reconciliation instruction" for health care. That means the Democrats can pass health care ... (more) Reconciliation Now Has a Date: October 15

Congress

Kent Conrad

Harry Reid

Blair House

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tnr.com - 4/20/2009

Truth and Reconciliation

— tnr.com — 'Reconciliation" means "restoration of harmony." But as a term of art in budgeting, it has become an act of war. President Obama and most Democrats in Congress hope to include health and education reform in reconciliation instructions as part of the ... (more) Truth and Reconciliation

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5

wonkroom.thinkprogress.org - 4/24/2009

Reconciliation Is Key To Health Care Reform

— wonkroom.thinkprogress.org — The White House is strongly urging Senators to include budget reconciliation language in the health care section of the budget, a move Republicans have characterized as a “deceleration of war.” Indeed, after pushing everything from the ... (more) Reconciliation Is Key To Health Care Reform

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Two Health Care Must-Reads
The Atlantic Politics Channel — Jonathan Cohn on why the threat of reconciliation changes the political calculus of health care reform so significantly. (Hint: reconciliation is targeted NOT at Republicans, but at.....that's right, the Democrats.)  ...

Does reconciliation make compromise MORE likely?
News — ... Jonathan Cohn has an interesting piece up on The Treatment at TNR. Will budget reconciliation make compromise MORE likely, rather than less? Now imagine Democrats have the option of using reconciliation. They need just fifty votes, which means they may not need your [industry's] support after all. If you demand too much, they may just ignore you altogether–and craft a bill, perhaps with the help of more cooperative lobbyists, that is not in your self interest. In this scenario, there are three options on the table. A bill you like, no bill at all, and a bill you really hate ...

Reconciliation = health care reform
Political Animal — ... that it seems the reconciliation process is the only realistic way to get health care reform passed, precisely because the congressional minority has no interest in playing a constructive role in the process. And Jonathan Cohn did a nice job yesterday explaining the larger dynamic: "It's hard to overstate how radically the reconciliation option would shift the dynamics of debate. It's not just that it would make passage of a bill more likely. It's that it would utterly redefine the conversation."— ...

Health-Care Politics Update
The Corner on National Review Online — Friday, April 24, 2009 [image] Health-Care Politics Update [Ramesh Ponnuru] Jonathan Cohn notes that allowing health-care legislation to pass by a simple majority vote in the Senate will make all the interest groups involved in the debate even more likely than they already are to try to shape a bill to their liking rather than to defeat it. ...