Reply #9: It's clear where this is headed- the budget reconciliation process ...

[Alhena]

I expect a pretty progressive bill to pass with only 50 votes needed in the Senate.

That's the good news. The bad news is that a non-budget neutral bill that passes via reconciliation sunsets in 5 years and has to be re-enacted. The benefits don't even kick in until 2013 so we'll have one year to take it for a test drive before it has to be re-enacted. Hope it makes a good first impression though I fear it won't - these things usually take a while to work the kinks out even with good bills.