The Health Care Bill and ?Reconciliation’

Mar 09, 2010
Health Care
Press

There has been much talk about another final push to pass the Democrats’ government takeover of our health care system.  A lot of the more recent discussion has revolved around a procedural maneuver in the Senate called “reconciliation” that would allow the next bill to pass with only 51 votes as opposed to the 60 that were needed for the first bill.  A lot of ink has been spilled over what can be done to stop the reconciliation process.

I just want to clarify a point here.

Before the reconciliation process could begin, the House of Representatives would have to pass the Senate version of the health care bill with its taxpayer funded abortions and a $871 billion price tag (though in reality much higher.) Once passed, the President would sign it and it would become law.  Only then could the Democrats begin to make changes via a separate reconciliation bill that would change parts of the bill that Members found objectionable.  There would be no guarantee that these changes would become law and many supporters of the Democrats’ healthcare takeover would prefer that those changes are never made.  The Wall Street Journal made this point yesterday.

The discussion of reconciliation and the arguments about Senate procedure are irrelevant for the time being.  It is extremely important that the reconciliation process not serve as a distraction that allows Speaker Pelosi to pass this bill through the House and severely damage the best health care system in the world.

House Republicans want health care reform.  There are many areas where small, targeted measures can have an enormous impact on improving access to health care and driving down costs.   It’s time to start over and make the reforms for which there is bipartisan support.

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