I was so focused on provisions that would not affect the budget and might therefore have to be removed, that I forgot to think about provisions that would affect the budget. Unless Senator Reid can find ways to make these bills not violate two other tests, he will need 60 votes even to pass a reconciliation bill. Even through reconciliation it would be very difficult for Senator Reid to implement a 51-vote strategy.
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Tag Archives: senator reid
How reconciliation might be used for health care reform
5 August 2009 
29 Comments
This is part two of a crash course on the reconciliation process and how it might be used this fall for health care reform.
Read more The New York Times (implicitly) calls for no climate change law
1 July 2009 13 Comments
The House passed the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill last Friday on a largely party-line 219-212 vote. The New York Times editorial board now urges the Senate both to strengthen and pass the House-passed bill. But the Senate is right of the House on climate, so the choice will be to strengthen or pass a bill. Senate passage would require “weakening” the bill from the standpoint of a cap-and-trade advocate. This legislative situation provides me with a great teaching opportunity about the hard choices of practical legislating.
Read moreTactical consequences of the Specter switch
30 April 2009 4 Comments
I spent more than seven years working in the Senate, including 5 and a half working for Senator Trent Lott (R-MS), in his time both as Majority Leader and as Minority Leader resulting from Sen. Jeffords’ party switch. There is a lot of hype about how Sen. Specter’s switch from Republican to Democrat will give […]
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