Senator Boxer casually dropped the Reconciliation Bomb while trying to explain Health Care Reform to a gathering of people eager to get her signature on her new book.
Since she brings-up Reconciliation, as so many Democrats are now reminding us that they have that option, it must also mean that she is backing away from the Health Care Reform Plan.
In the video, below, to friendly audience at her book-signing, she mentions alternate measures, and means, that Democrats will pursue if they do not have the 60 votes necessary to pass the Plan in the Senate. The Senate can bypass the Republicans and resort Reconciliation Process, to pass their version of Health Care Reform. (See Note, below).
This is a very interesting, and telling, and disturbing turn of events. The Reconciliation Process, when the rules are bent, is an end-run around legitimate opposition.
When you watch the video, below, she is enthusiastically supportive of the Health Care Reform Plan, however, about mid-way through she matter-of-factly says:
“if the bill does not get 60 votes, it’s just going to go to 50 Democrats, plus Joe Biden, and that will be a pared-down vote, and would probably include an expansion of Medicare, Medicaid….”
etc, etc. (This quote is about 4:40 into the video)
As you can see by the video, she is confident that she can pass a pared-down bill, with Democrats, only. Republicans will be out of the picture.
Apparently, Senator Boxer, and her fellow Democrats are determined to shove this alternate legislation down our throats, too, and there isn’t anything we can do about it, short of voting them out of office after the fact, when it is too late. Once they vote for their bills, we will be stuck with their dirty work forever.
I understand that there are safe guards built into the Reconciliation process, such as the Byrd Rule, so perhaps the chance of any such legislation passing muster may be slim, but, just the idea that Democrats would consider such a route, as Senator Boxer intimated, is evidence that, first, they must be desperate, and/or, second, they really don’t care about all of their constituents; they only care about the one’s who agree with themselves. Such a move is clearly spiteful, and just sends a message to the American people that their objections, and their protests, do not have any effect on legislation.
She seems to forget that if her backdoor tactics successfully thwart the Republications, she is ignoring more than just Republicans; she is thumbing her nose at all of the opposition, Republican, and Democrat, and Independent. She might as well tell us to all “go eat cake”, because it seems tha she is going to do what ever it takes to pass Health Care Reform.
It just seems spiteful, and ‘in-your-face’. It stinks.
We might as well live in Iran, where the citizens go through the motions of voting, and speaking their minds, only to be ignored, and intimidated into accepting an illegitimate government.
LOL…. I’m feeling a little ill, right now; thank goodness that I still have a good health care plan.
Anyway, you be the judge. The video, below, is about 7-8 minutes long, and it is fairly enlightening because she is actually giving her views on the Health Care Reform Plan, and the alternatives.
You don’t have to watch the entire video to hear her talk about the 51 vote Senate; if you move the video slider to about 4:30, you can listen to her talk, in general, about alternate avenues to Health Care reform:
Click here if you want view the video on youtube.com
Click here if you want view the video on youtube.com.
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And that is just my opinion !
Spencer Holly
www.angrycalifornian.com
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NOTE:
The original purpose of the Reconciliation Process was sound, however, it can be abused, and misused, to perform an end-run around the 60 vote minimum in the Senate. The article, below, provides an excellent description of the Process, it’s purpose, and possible abuses.
Please click here to read a fine tutorial on the Reconciliation Process.
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Click here to view online videos of various health care topics.
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Click here to view online videos of various educational health care topics.
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