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http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=cqmidday-000003067530Democrats Weigh Filibuster-Proofing Obama’s Agenda
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer said Thursday that House and Senate Democratic leaders are discussing whether to use the filibuster-proof budget reconciliation process to move major elements of President Obama’s agenda this year.
At the top of that list are the president’s health care overhaul and his climate change proposal, which would impose a cap on carbon dioxide emissions and then sell emission permits that companies could use or trade. A Hoyer aide said changes in the federal student loan program also could move through reconciliation.
The Maryland Democrat emphasized that no decisions have been made, and that leaders have just begun discussing how to proceed.
“I think it would overstate to say that we’re urging them to do that,” Hoyer said of House leaders’ discussions with their Senate counterparts about use of the reconciliation process.
Under that process, legislation affecting tax and entitlement spending programs can be moved through the Senate by a simple majority vote, rather than the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. That is an appealing prospect for Democrats, who would have to hold all 58 of their senators in line and win over at least two Republicans to advance Obama’s agenda by the normal legislative process.
Just unifying their own troops behind a health plan that will undoubtedly be both complex and controversial is a tall order. And with Edward M. Kennedy , D-Mass., battling brain cancer, Democrats probably would need three or more Republicans to reach the 60-vote target.
No House Republicans voted for Obama’s big economic stimulus plan, and just three GOP senators did — Maine’s Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins , and Pennsylvania’s Arlen Specter .
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