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Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin likes to taunt his Republican colleagues, arguing that ObamaCare can't be repealed because 60 votes are required to end debate in the Senate on any measure.
BUT
The Budget Act of 1974 established the reconciliation process. The House and Senate Budget Committees can direct other committees to make changes in mandatory spending (like ObamaCare's Medicaid expansion and insurance subsidies) and the tax code (such as ObamaCare's levies on insurance policies, hospitals and drug companies) to make spending and revenue conform with the goals set by the annual budget resolution.
For example, under reconciliation the Senate Budget Committee could instruct the Senate Finance Committee to reduce mandatory spending on insurance subsidies and Medicaid expansion. These two items make up more than 90% of spending in ObamaCare. All the changes from all the committees are then bundled into one measure and voted upon. Because reconciliation is protected by the rules of the budget process, it doesn't take 60 votes to bring it up and it requires only a simple majority to pass.
Will this 51-vote strategy work? One long-time GOP budget whiz, embarrassed he hadn't thought of this, told me it would. Another Republican veteran of the budget wars agreed.
They would need strong D support which isn't going to happen, and even if the D's want to have a laugh then can send it to Obama for him to veto it. Why the right think they are in control is beyond me. The D's have the senate, and the presidency, they are the ones calling the shots.
I hope the Republicans not only repeal the "Obamacare" health bill but also repeal Medicaid and Medicare as well. They should eliminate the need for hospitals to admit people to emergency rooms unless they can prove they can pay for the services. We need to put our medical services industry on a firm business footing. I prefer they do it in this Congress. Just think of the tax money that could be transferred to the War on Terror and enforcing the Patriot Act.
Obama's veto would only make American even madder than they were when Democrats shoved it down their throats against their will.
Though beck and fox news will mislead otherwise, the vast majority of people want healthcare reform, just not in the way it is now as it's so loaded with pork for big insurance and is completely privatized. Most want to have the public option.
Obama's veto would only make American even madder than they were when Democrats shoved it down their throats against their will.
Have you seen the GOP proposals for health care? It is almost identical to Obamacare except for the mandatory insurance. So, if Americans are mad about Obamacare then they will not be real happy with the GOP alternative.
Though beck and fox news will mislead otherwise, the vast majority of people want healthcare reform, just not in the way it is now as it's so loaded with pork for big insurance and is completely privatized. Most want to have the public option.
Absolutely agree
And what we had before Obama wasn't all that great either.
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