Reconciliation is perhaps the biggest misnomer in political parlance. A quick dictionary search finds:
rec·on·cile, verb, REH-kuhn-si(-uh)l, to win over to friendliness; cause to become amicable: to reconcile hostile persons
But the Senate process of reconciliation is known for making more enemies than friends. There is no better illustration of this simple truth than the Democrats threat to use the procedure to bypass the Republican filibuster.
But before we dig into the ongoing partisan spin battle, a little history on the process. Reconciliation was created in the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to enhance Congress’ ability to change current law to bring revenue and spending in line with the projected budget. In the early years it was used to limit debate and amendments which could water down the ability of Congress to get their fiscal house in order.
As a Senator Obama echoed this traditional view saying,
“Under the rules, the reconciliation process does not permit that debate. Reconciliation is therefore the wrong place for policy changes . . . In short, the reconciliation process appears to have lost its proper meaning. A vehicle designed for deficit reduction and fiscal responsibility has been hijacked.” (Sen. Obama, Congressional Record, S .14150, 12/20/05)
However, where ideal and political reality meet, the picture becomes less clear. As NPR pointed out the budget reconciliation process is no stranger to health care reform. For instance, the budget reconciliation process was used to expand the Medicaid program to children of low-income families. It has also been used to incrementally make changes to Medicare, such as adding a hospice benefit and benefits including preventative care.
No one disputes that reconciliation has been used to make changes to health care. But it also cannot be disputed that the current comprehensive reform bill is dramatically different than past incremental reforms spread out over many years. The underlying purpose of all of health care precedent now being touted by Democrats was directly related to dealing with the budget. The inclusions of health care related portions of the bill were done piecemeal and in the words of Orrin Hatch “served as the glue” to passing balanced budgets. Even Democrat Chair of the Senate Budget Committee Kent Conrad told CBS’ Face the Nation:
“Reconciliation cannot be used to pass comprehensive health care reform. It won’t work because it was never designed for that kind of significant legislation.”
Moreover, Democrat Robert Byrd, the longest serving member of the Senate said
“I was one of the authors of the legislation that created the budget reconciliation process in 1974, and I am certain that putting health care reform . . . legislation on a freight train through Congress is an outrage that must be resisted.”
What strikes me though is the disappointing flip-flopping in Democrat rhetoric. In the filibuster debate Democrats characterize increasing Republican use as an unprecedented abuse of the procedure. In other words, we’ve done this in the past, so we can’t completely blame you for using it, but, we can at least blame you for using it more than we did. However, they deflect the same critique when it comes to using reconciliation. Republicans have used this parliamentary procedure before, Democrats are taking its use to a new level, and now Democrats are bristling at the notion their use is subject to criticism. We must stop the having-it-both-ways approach by both parties. The rules of the game should be static, not malleable. Their interpretation should remain the same whether you are in the majority or the minority.
With Obama set to call on Congress to pass in a speech today, this utopia will have to be delayed for when Republicans take back the House. If Democrats are determined to press forward with reconciliation, against the will of the people, that Republican majority could arrive as soon as this year. Here’s to hoping Republicans become the principled leaders Democrats are currently failing to be.
Brandon Greife, Political Director of the College Republican National Committee
Read more at www.collegerepublicans.org
