Reply #73: Why defer to the Parliamentarian? Only if the other side has 60 votes to support an objection.

[leveymg]

This was written last Spring at Brookings Institute. Democrats should have followed it: http://www.brookings.edu/articles/2009/0420_budget_mann.aspx

The best path would be to have reconciliation as an implicit or explicit threat: if Democrats can employ it to accomplish the policy goal with only a simple majority, Republicans may be persuaded to abandon efforts to use their 41 votes to just say no and instead engage the majority constructively to find common ground. But if that is not feasible, it is perfectly reasonable for Democrats to use the process for health care reform that both parties have used regularly for other major initiatives. The result might be more piecemeal and imperfect, but it would be better than the alternative of no bill at all.

Budget Reconciliation Bills Signed Into Law, 1980-2008 - (28 Laws)