It's Official - Reconciliation It Is
Whistling through the graveyard. Mark my words. Pass this bill(the way they are trying to do it) and the Dems will lose 40+ seats in the House.
You have no memory of 1994. It took far less than this to rile up the opposition. No one other than the rabid base will appreciate its passage(because the effects won't be felt until at least 2014) but there will be huge resentment by ordinary middle of the road voters at the way the process is being abused.
Just like all of the other times reconciliation was used? :shrug:
I'm not a huge fan of what any reconciled bill will look like but, absent any deleterious effects on people, it's pure silliness to think that it will be priority one in the minds of voters over their employment status, the economy, and national security.
Except, as you mentioned, for the "rabid base". And there's more than one of those.
And, of course, the point is being totally missed that, if the Democrats did nothing they were going to be killed anyway. The Republicans have been ramping up the "See...they've got sixty seats (now fifty-nine) and they
still can't pass anything!" rhetoric since the middle of last year.
If you're going down regardless, might as well go down on the back of your own legilslation.