Should Democrats Take Republican Reconciliation Threats Seriously?

Use the Force, Harry.

The R's are bluffing. They'll look like complete jackasses (not that they don't already). Call their bluff.

vote-arama! Sounds like fun. Let's have a bill-a-palooza or a vote-arama.

Considering that this will probably be the last time in the next 20 years that there are the votes to push through major health care changes, and that political damage of taking up this issue is already done, it's time to go for broke, bring back the public option, and ram this thing through.

Add another arrow to the Dems quiver - schedule the "vote-a-rama" just prior to the Easter/Passover recess, forcing the Pubs to choose between further stalling or being home for the Easter Bunny-Elijah. It worked last time, before Christmas.

What's that? There's an opportunity for Republicans to dishonestly demagogue this issue on TV for weeks and weeks, and for Democrats to weakly capitulate, cede the media battleground and do whatever makes Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham happy?

Three guesses what happens.

Call their bluff, have the debate, on live TV, and make them show the country how they are working against their own constituants interests, and for the interests of the big insurance companies.

I really don't know why this hasn't been more a part of the Dem's talking points. Insurance companies have got to have the worst approval rating than every other industry.

Do it. Cheat. Steal. Lie. Circumvent. Lance. Spindle.

Republicans are already conflating reconiliation with the nuclear option. Ergo deploy the nukes. No amendment votes required.

The congressional Republicans are in contempt of congress. Hell, they are in contempt of all the rest of us. Please, Please people show them the love of a wise mommie and send them off to bed without their suppers. Let them cry themselves to sleep.

The premise of this article is just assinine. Really.

No the Democrats shouldn't be worried about what the enemy is going to do regardless. The Democrats should be worried that they've accomplished nothing in this Congress and so must get off their cowardly asses and start passing some legislation that is meaningful to the common people of this country. That, and only that, is what Democrats should be worrying about.

I think I speak for many here when I say to the GOP:

"Bring it on, motherfuckers."

So, what;'s the difference. R's have already slowed progress in congress to a snail's pace. And now their threatening to slow progress in congress to a snail's pace. BFD. Next.

It's their freakin m.o.

They are pretty sure they have this President boxed up, in a corner and that he's afraid to make a bold move (can't imagine why - but I digress). Anything that gets them in front of a camera, a chance to throw red meat to their growing, gnarly, blood thirsty audience, will be used.

Man up, dems, it's time to show some spine, balls, moxy, whatever - just pass the damn bill.

Well everyone knows that when you have a 41 to 59 vote majority, as the Repubs do, their threats have to be taken seriously, After all if the voters hadn't wanted the Democrats to give it all up for the Repubs they wouldn't have given the Repubs such a big majority of the votes in 2008.

Just think of all of the harm the Repubs can to to Democrats, controlling all of the reins of government as they do, with their 41 to 59 majority, plus control of the Presidency with McCain in charge.

Senator Reid, we got your back. The truth is the majority can do whatever it wants, as long as the Vice President goes along. The real issue is, does Senator Reid have the cojones?

Pass.
The.
F$^%ing.
Bill.
Already.

All of the talk of difficulty surrounding this bill seems to focus on the troubles in the Senate. But by my calculations, I think the media is overlooking the real issues with the House whip count. Progressives want the public option badly and I am not sure they will give that up without a contentious fight. On the other side you have the Stupak block that will refuse to support the bill unless their abortion language is inserted into the bill, which is a non-starter for House progressives and probably not kosher with a majority of the Senate Dems either.

Methinks this is a bridge too far and the plug will be pulled on HCR sometime in mid-March because progressives feel that they have given up so much to get so far already that I am unsure they want to (or should) concede any more ground. I'm also sure the Blue Dogs are going to say the same thing.

Ironically we have more votes to work with in the Senate with reconciliation. The Dems have 9 votes to give in that scenario. Correct me if I am wrong, but I am counting 4 senators as a NO right off the bat: Nelson, Lieberman, Lincoln and Landrieu. And let us suppose that Lautenberg might be away from the Senate for a few more weeks. All told, that still leaves a possible 54 votes and there might be a few more to vote NO based on procedural objections, bring it close to but ultimately (IMHO) above the VP tiebreaker threshold.

If this bill is going to cross the goal line, it is going to take leadership from the White House. And while yesterday's summit showed a good step in that direction, I am not how much sway they can ultimately have over this Congress.

Here's hoping for the best but bracing for the worst...

There is no other way to do it. Repubs aren't gonna allow an up-or-down vote and the "reset button" is a kill switch. Budget reconciliation is the only way to get it done.

Time for the democrats to force the republicans to follow through on every bit of energy they 'threaten' to use to obstruct. Make them do it. And get the damn job done anyway.

Well, now that the Republicans have merely issued the threat of holding their breath and throwing a tantrum on the floor of the Senate, it's time for the Dems to soil their trousers in fear and retreat to their offices, sucking their thumbs and rocking back and forth in their chairs.

The Senate parliemantarian (or perhaps, the VP) can rule that the amendments are being offered solely with the intent to slow the progress of the legislation and are therefore ALL are disallowed. The Republicans will whine and the MSM will scramble to provide coverage of said whining, but it's perfectly legal and according to Hoyle, if not exactly Robert's.

Should we take this question seriously? It's just the continuation of the smokescreen. It started with lil' puppet bush to steer attention away from what they we're doing to us & the rest of the world. It continued with cheney blowing smoke for the last year. Now, it's all about diverting the focus away from the pathetic factual record they are stuck with & hoping no one ever asks them to show their supposed cures for America, complete with an actual workable budget.
Fear, threats, terrorists etc etc. = Big-Ass, Lame, Republican Smokescreen.

Bring

It

On.

Let's hope the Democrats have the cajones to face down Republican B.S. for a change. I'm not holding my breath, though.

So are they also going to hold their breaths until they turn blue? Stop up the crappers with paper towels?

I mean, seriously, if they want to explore the limits of the rules and grind Washington to a halt, I say go for it. Nothing like a good constitutional crisis to get Republicans to show their ass to the nation. Watergate, the Big Shutdown, Whitewater/Blowjobgate, all times they massively overplayed their hands and got punished for it.

Sure, they should take them seriously. One move is to advance an improvement for our prospects for affordable health care, and the other is a spiteful move to maintain the status quo. What are you going to do, back down in the face of a threat, or stand up for your beliefs?

Uhhh, I can't believe all these posts and the simple answer is . . . ..

No.

The only thing you have to worry about is the POTUS. Don't turn your back. Guaranteed he's going to go the reconciliation-lite route and give the American people all the crumbs and call it HCR.

If Dems need to worry, its about rounding up votes, BO needs to show he can do top down management and grab some resisting Dems by the short hairs. As far as Nelson, any monies approved for pet projects to buy his vote should suddenly dry up, like Shrub did to his Faith Based bullshit initiatives. Beat Nelson senseless and leave his lifeless carcass hanging over the Dem side of the aisle. If he wants to play reconciler give Loserman what he wants, the spotlight, but then turn up the wattage until he requests waterboarding just to cool off.

You people are deluding yourselves. There will be no reconciliation. What makes you think the Dems will grow a set of balls? What have they done - name it! - in the past year that might give you an inkling that they might show even a tiny bit of spine? This question of how the Rethugs will react to reconciliation is moot. IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN - DEMS ARE SPINELESS WEAK LOSERS.
ps im not happy about this.

edfreeze has it right--as does Glenn Greenwald in his Salon article.

Anyone given to believing that the Democrats are going to be our salvation is out of touch with the all-to-obvious and painful reality, supported by fact.

Much of the Bush Administration policies survive to this day, after a DEMOCRATICALLY controlled majority in the Congress have voted to CONTINUE those policies.

People projecting their deepest needs onto these "D" politicians need to get a grip and face the facts. They're just another corporation of a different stripe than the Reprobates.

Should the Democrats take the Reprobates threats seriously?

That is the wrong question as this Kabuki Theater gets played out.

How can the People's business possibly get done with these two corporations in the way?

Enough is enough fight back!!!
http://www.youtube.com/user/coffeepartyusa

In short, no.

If this happens and if that happens, then maybe this will happen.

So far the only for sure thing is how gutless Dems have become.

maybe we can leave the same lame headline ALL WEEKEND !! YAY !! Maybe the Dems will lose their entire backbone!!