Karl Rove

Rove Backs Reconciliation For Health Care Repeal

Brian Beutler | February 10, 2011, 9:00AM

Karl Rove

Look who's suddenly all for passing things in the Senate with 51 votes.

In a new column entitled "Democrats can't filibuster ObamaCare repeal," Karl Rove argues that Republicans can use the budget reconciliation process to repeal the health care law with 51 votes. That's the filibuster-proof process that allowed Democrats to tweak revenue and spending measures in the greater health care law, which Republicans at the time compared to Chicago-mob style politics.

On March 1, 2010 Rove himself called that "changing rules midstream."

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START treaty

Dems Close In On START Ratification

Brian Beutler | December 21, 2010, 10:12AM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama

At this point it's all but certain that the Democrats will be able to ratify the new START treaty before the end of the week. Yesterday was a breakthrough, as key on-the-fence Senators announced their support or near support. But the dam fully broke this morning when Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) -- the Senate's third-ranking Republican -- broke with his leadership team, including anti-START ringleader Jon Kyl, to announce his support.

"I will vote to ratify the new START treaty," Alexander said on the Senate floor. Even after the arms reductions the treaty demands, Alexander said, the US will still have enough weapons to blow "enemies" to "kingdom come."

He joins Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) as the most recent Republican to announce their intent to support the treaty; Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) is widely expected to solidify his support for the treaty as well.

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Paul Ryan

Republican Paul Ryan Opposes White House Fiscal Commission Plan

Brian Beutler | December 2, 2010, 10:42AM

Paul Ryan

Incoming Budget Committee chairman -- and fiscal commission member -- Paul Ryan (R-WI) will not be voting for the White House Fiscal Commission's report, he told reporters at a breakfast roundtable hosted by the Christian Science Monitor today.

"Obviously I'm not going to vote for it," Ryan said. "I think I pretty much telegraphed that."

Ryan was at pains to praise the commission's chairmen, Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, for their efforts, but ultimately criticized the plan dramatically -- in particular, he says, because it reinforces President Obama's health care law.

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2010 elections

NYT Mag Interview: Here Comes Obama 2.0

Evan McMorris-Santoro | October 13, 2010, 6:28PM

President Obama on the way to George Mason University

The New York Times Magazine is up with this weekend's massive interview with President Obama by the paper's Peter Baker. The story in a nutshell? Obama is ready to reboot after a tough first two years in office.

From the story:

While proud of his record, Obama has already begun thinking about what went wrong -- and what he needs to do to change course for the next two years. He has spent what one aide called "a lot of time talking about Obama 2.0" with his new interim chief of staff, Pete Rouse, and his deputy chief of staff, Jim Messina. During our hour together, Obama told me he had no regrets about the broad direction of his presidency. But he did identify what he called "tactical lessons." He let himself look too much like "the same old tax-and-spend liberal Democrat." He realized too late that "there's no such thing as shovel-ready projects" when it comes to public works. Perhaps he should not have proposed tax breaks as part of his stimulus and instead "let the Republicans insist on the tax cuts" so it could be seen as a bipartisan compromise.

Here are some highlights from the transcript of Baker's long interview with the President.

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Government Shutdown

DeMint Calls On Republicans To Force Fall Spending Showdown With Democrats

Brian Beutler | October 5, 2010, 10:24AM

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) is sending out a warning to his fellow Republicans: Stand tall against government spending this fall, and be prepared for a showdown.

"[B]efore they're replaced in January, all of the Democrats who are put out of a job in November will be able to come back and rob the nation blind," DeMint writes in the conservative National Review.

At a glance it appears DeMint is lashing out at Democrats. But his real concern is that members of his own party -- who he described last week as "retiring Republican appropriators" -- will join Democrats during the lame-duck session of Congress and pass large spending legislation to keep the government running (what's known on the Hill as an omnibus spending bill).

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Health Care

Top Republicans Warm To Reconciliation...For Repealing Health Care Reform

Brian Beutler | September 23, 2010, 2:25PM

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH)

Recall back in 2009, when Democrats gingerly toyed with the idea of using the 51-vote budget reconciliation process to pass health care reform in the Senate on a majority-rules basis? Republicans howled. The GOP's two top budget guys, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) in particular blasted Democrats. Gregg compared it to "running over the minority, putting them in cement and throwing them in the Chicago River."

With Republicans poised for big gains in November, though, the two of them have had a change of heart. Appearing on CNBC yesterday, the two were asked "Can you use reconciliation to chip away and gradually roll back some of the unpopular Obama policies?"

Sure!

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Social Security

Meet The 18 People Who Could Determine The Fate Of Social Security

Brian Beutler | August 30, 2010, 11:55AM

President Obama meets with the leaders of his bipartisan debt commission, Democrat Erskine Bowles, on left, and former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson, on right.

Last week former Republican Senator Alan Simpson, who co-chairs the White House's fiscal commission, drew a storm of criticism for comparing Social Security to a "cow with 310 million tits." But Titgate isn't really about language. It's about both Simpson himself -- who has long viewed Social Security as a bloated program for spoiled old people -- and about the commission as a whole. Comprised of nine tax-averse Republicans and nine Democrats, many of whom have expressed support for Social Security changes in the past, the commission will almost certainly be biased toward benefit cuts, and away from raising taxes, when it presents its report on December 1. Below, the cast of characters who will be making the calls.

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Health Care

Republicans Plan To Increase Deficits By Repealing Health Care Reform

Brian Beutler | July 20, 2010, 4:32PM

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Republicans are at pains these days to present themselves as the party of fiscal austerity. They're also at pains to advertise themselves as the party that will repeal (or repeal and replace) the Democrats' new health care law.

The problem for them is that those two platforms are basically mutually exclusive. If Republicans attempt to repeal the health care bill, they'll run headlong into the Congressional Budget Office, which found that the health care bill reduces deficits by over $100 billion over its first 10 years. Repeal that, and Republicans will have to raise taxes or cut spending to keep from driving up the deficit they decry. Or they could simply ignore Congressional scorekeepers -- which is what top Republicans seem intent on doing.

"We all know that it's going to increase the deficit," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell at his weekly press availability, in response to a question from TPMDC.

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Republicans

It's Unanimous! GOP Says No To Unemployment Benefits, Yes To Tax Cuts For The Rich

Brian Beutler | July 13, 2010, 5:36PM

(Clockwise from top left) Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY), John Cornyn (R-TX), Judd Gregg (R-NH), John Kyl (R-AZ)

For weeks, Senate Republicans have filibustered an extension of unemployment benefits on the grounds that Democrats aren't willing to cut spending or raise taxes to pay for them. At the same time, the Bush tax cuts are set to expire, and Republicans want them to be renewed. For two days, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl has raised eyebrows by insisting that emergency aid to unemployed people -- what he called a "necessary evil" -- be paid for through either tax hikes or spending cuts, while the tax cuts (which mostly benefit wealthy people) not be offset in any way. Yesterday claimed that this view is shared by "most of the people in my party."

He was correct.

"That's been the majority Republican view for some time," Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told TPMDC this afternoon after the weekly GOP press conference. "That there's no evidence whatsoever that the Bush tax cuts actually diminished revenue. They increased revenue, because of the vibrancy of these tax cuts in the economy. So I think what Senator Kyl was expressing was the view of virtually every Republican on that subject."

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Financial Reform

GOPers So Opposed To Wall Street Regulation That They Voted For Bailout Continuation

Brian Beutler | June 30, 2010, 12:15PM

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) speaks with Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) on Capitol Hill.

Republicans have spent the better part of two years distancing themselves from bailouts and hitting Democrats for supporting them. But given a choice between continuing the 2008 bank bailout and regulating Wall Street, several Republicans voted last night (and almost all of them will ultimately vote) to keep the bailout alive.

Last night, in a scramble to save the bill in the wake of Sen. Scott Brown's (R-MA) objections to the conference report, Democrats worked with moderate Republicans to figure out a new way to pay for Wall Street reform. What they came up with was pretty simple: end the TARP legislation (i.e., the much-maligned bank bailout) early. Every Republican negotiator on the conference committee objected, some vociferously.

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) called it "fraud on the American people."

Not to be outdone, Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) called it "smoke and mirrors."

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Financial Reform

Dems and Republicans Clash Over Wall Street Reform Fix

Brian Beutler | June 29, 2010, 5:51PM

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)

Late update: Financial reform negotiators agreed tonight on a party line vote to make fixes sought by Sens. Scott Brown, Susan Collins, and Olympia Snowe, changing the way the legislation will be paid for. Speaking to reporters after the impromptu conference committee session, House Financial Services Committee Chair Barney Frank implied strongly that he'd received assurances that the Senate now has 60 votes to pass Wall Street reform. The House will likely take the bill up tomorrow, while the Senate may have to wait until after the July 4 recess to hold its final vote.

Here's how Democrats propose to placate moderate Republicans, who've been threatening to renege on their previous support for Wall Street reform. Instead of paying for the $19 billion cost of financial regulation bill by taxing big banks, the legislation will now raise money in two ways: Ending TARP, and raising the minimum target for FDIC's Deposit Insurance Fund.

Democrats took the extraordinary step this evening of reconvening the financial reform conference committee and making the switch in order to secure 60 votes for the legislation in the Senate. Brown said he'd bolt from the bill without a new pay-for, and Maine Republicans Collins and Snowe made similar threats, leaving Democrats likely vulnerable to a Republican financial reform filibuster.

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Financial Reform

No Biggie! Gregg Says Derivatives Rules Likely To Be Scrapped From Wall Street Bill

Brian Beutler | May 25, 2010, 8:41AM

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH)

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) says it should be no biggie for Congress to scrap a controversial proposal in the Senate Wall Street reform bill that would prevent large financial firms from trading derivatives in-house.

Last night I asked him whether anti-Wall Street sentiment might make it more difficult for House and Senate negotiators to get rid of the so-called "spin off" plan. Gregg shrugged it off.

"I wouldn't think so, because it's logical and it's good language," Gregg said.

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Republicans

Their Dirty Little Secret: GOP Senators Say Bailouts Worked -- Just Please Don't Tell Anyone!

Brian Beutler | May 14, 2010, 9:46AM

Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), John McCain (R-AZ), Bob Bennett (R-UT), and Judd Gregg (R-NH)

Perhaps the most fascinating political conundrum of the 2010 election is one faced by GOP senators, almost all of whom voted for TARP and supported some of the other bailouts in the thick of the financial crisis. The good news is that, for all their shortcomings, the bailouts did the trick, preventing a deeper economic crisis. The bad news is those bailouts are now considered political poison by the tea partying conservative base.

That puts Republicans in a strange position: unable to say the legislation failed, but at pains to distance themselves from their vote nonetheless. Over the past couple days, I've asked a number of GOP senators whether, nearly two years later, they think the bailout bill was effective. Their answers were revealing.

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Financial Reform

Republicans: Lack Of GOP Support For Wall Street Reform Bill Is Obama's Fault

Brian Beutler | April 13, 2010, 3:37PM

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Republicans--including moderates--are solidifying opposition to Democratic efforts to impose stricter regulations on Wall Street. They aren't just attacking the Democrats' financial regulatory reform bill as a vehicle that will lead to more bailouts. They're also laying the blame for the lack of GOP support for reform directly at President Obama's feet. And all the while, Republican leaders are seeking donations from major financial institutions ahead of the 2010 midterm elections.

"Right now the administration is saying 'no' to some common sense type of reforms that would strengthen financial services regulations and not affect small businesses in a negative way and allow for us to get a handle on the real problems in that industry," said Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), thought by many to be a potential swing vote on Wall Street reform. "Shame on the President."

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Financial Reform

Don't Make The Same Mistake Twice: The One Way Dems' Health Care Win Might Help Pass Financial Reform

Brian Beutler | March 30, 2010, 1:33PM

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT)

In the wake of the passage of health care reform, Senate Republicans say that they're less willing to work with Democrats than they were in the past--if such a thing is even possible. But at the same time, multiple key GOP senators say they're certain one major initiative--financial regulatory reform--will pass the Senate this year.

"I think it's going to be very, very difficult -- very difficult -- to get 41 members [to sustain a filibuster]," Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) said in a speech last week.

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), who was tapped to serve as a Republican negotiator in an early round of the regulatory reform debate, told reporters last week he was "100 percent" certain that a major bill would pass this year.

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Health Care

Divide And Conquer: The GOP's PsyOps Strategy To Scare Shaky House Dems Off Health Care Reform

Brian Beutler | March 12, 2010, 12:51PM

Senate Republicans are running out of options. As Democrats inch closer to passing health care reform, the GOPers in the upper chamber have realized they can't rely on the procedural tricks they have at their disposal in the Senate to stall or derail the process because all of the action is in the House.

So their latest plan to derail the reform legislation is more devious: Senate Republicans have embarked on a rhetorical scorched-Earth strategy about the political perils of passing health care, to sow the seeds of doubts in the minds of House Democrats in the hopes that they lose their nerve and sink the bill.

Call it Congressional psy-ops.

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Barack Obama

Obama Endorses Bipartisan Debt Commission Opposed By Progressives

Eric Lach | January 25, 2010, 11:51AM

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), President Barack Obama, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH)

The Senate is expected to vote tomorrow on a proposal to create a bipartisan debt commission charged with reducing soaring budget deficits, which are projected to be around $1 trillion a year for the next decade.

The commission would potentially have the power to force Congress into an up-or-down vote on systematic changes to the tax code and government entitlement programs, including Medicare and Social Security. That's got a lot of progressives worried -- and mad.

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RNC

Gregg On Steele's 'Bird-Flipping' Comment: 'That's Foolishness'

Christina Bellantoni | December 22, 2009, 3:06PM

Sen. Judd Gregg said RNC Chairman Mike Steele was using "foolish" language when he said Congress was "flipping the bird" at the American people.

Interviewed today on MSNBC Gregg (R-NH) called it "foolish language" and said "people are getting a little frayed down here and there has been a lot of foolish language on both sides of the aisle."

He also was asked about a Washington Times report that Steele is raking in speaking fees. He said he wasn't familiar with the issue but added a joke, "He shouldn't charge Republcian groups for it that's for sure."

Watch:

Health Care

Here 'Til Christmas? Republicans Differ On Whether To Run Out The Health Care Clock

Brian Beutler | December 21, 2009, 1:00PM

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)

Apparently not all Republicans think the most fruitful use of their time is delaying a final vote on health care reform. Early this afternoon, Republicans filed into a caucus meeting just off the Senate floor to discuss whether it makes sense to require Democrats to run out the clock, as is their right under Senate rules, or to cede back some time so that members can go home early.

Filing in, though, Republicans I spoke with seemed to think it would be best to stick around for the long haul.

Among Republicans, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has been the most adamant that the minority use all of the tools at its disposal--maximize the number of filibusters, and make sure they last as long as possible--to delay (or forestall) a final vote.

In a brief interview with TPMDC, Coburn said he will make sure the Senate stays in session until the last possible moment. "No, there's no chance," he told me.

Coburn said he would object if Democrats asked for unanimous consent to hold health care votes in more rapid succession.

Complicating factors for members is that they have to hold a vote, before the year is out, on raising the country's debt ceiling. If Republicans refuse to cede back time on health care, that vote will have to happen next week, after a very brief Christmas break. But Coburn says he's going to force the issue.

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Deficit

With Unemployment In Double-Digits, Congress Set To Clash On Debt And Deficits

Brian Beutler | December 11, 2009, 10:44AM

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)

If and when health care passes, the White House and the Congress will be tugged in two seemingly different directions. On the one hand, with unemployment in the double digits (and an election around the corner), Democrats will have to do something about jobs--and that means another spending bill. The House has already begun its work and the Senate will have to follow suit if the economy is to improve, and if Democrats want to avoid a political blood bath. But the White House, and a bipartisan bloc in the Senate, have made very clear that they'll pay equal, or greater, attention to addressing the country's perilous fiscal situation. And that could touch off yet another tug of war between liberal Democrats and centrist legislators over the country's priorities.

Last month, liberals were taken by surprise when a number of senators--including several Democrats--issued a chilling ultimatum: let us tinker with entitlement programs and taxes, they said, or we'll block raising the amount of debt the government can take on. According to Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), 11 or 12 senators have said they will not vote for must-pass legislation to raise the country's debt ceiling unless they are authorized to create an external commission with extraordinary power over Medicare, Social Security and so on.

This week, Conrad and several of his supporters unveiled their proposal, and it turns out, liberals may have had less to worry about than it seemed at first blush. Not because the members of the commission would like to be gentle to American welfare programs, but because its authors seem to have set it up to fail.

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Filibuster

Reid Smacks Back At Gregg's Obstruction Memo

Brian Beutler | December 3, 2009, 10:23AM

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took direct aim at Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH)--ranking member on the Budget Committee--for authoring a detailed memo advising Republicans on the procedural tricks they can use to delay health care legislation.

"[T]he Republican plan we've waited weeks and months to see [is] not even about health care at all," Reid said on the Senate floor this morning. "The first and only plan Senate Republicans could be bothered to draft is an instruction manual on how to bring the Senate to a screeching halt."

"The Senate might be interested to learn that the architect behind this blueprint is none other than the Ranking Member of the Budget Committee, the senior Senator from New Hampshire," Reid said. "It's worth noting that this Senator - who, more than any other, often speaks publicly about how to properly use citizens' tax dollars - has now signed his name to a plan with the explicit goal of wasting the taxpayer's time and money."

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Judd Gregg

Judd Gregg Lays Out Maximally Obstructive GOP Game Plan On Health Care

Brian Beutler | December 2, 2009, 4:29PM

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH)

If Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) gets his way, the dilatory tactics that have marked the early days of the Senate health care debate will grow more and more severe.

"We, the minority party, must use the tools we have under Senate rules to insist on a full, complete and fully informed debate on the health care legislation - as well as all legislation - coming before the Senate," Gregg wrote in a letter to Republican colleagues yesterday. "As laid out in the attached document, we have certain rights before measures are considered on the floor as well as certain rights during the actual consideration of measures. Every Republican senator should be familiar with the scope of these rights, which serve to protect our ability to speak on behalf of the millions of Americans who depend on us to be their voice during this historic debate."

Gregg says Republicans should be prepared to filibuster every motion, "with the exception of Conference Reports and Budget Resolutions, most such motions are fully debatable and 60 votes for cloture is needed to cut off extended debate."

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Republicans

From Dollars To Death Panels: How Republicans Distorted Debates On Capitol Hill

Brian Beutler | November 27, 2009, 8:42AM

With Thanksgiving recess now upon us, it seems an appropriate time to revisit the hysterical Republican whoppers and talking points about the Democratic party agenda that have dominated this Congress. Herewith a top-five list:

Number Five: Paul Ryan Draws Line On Graph

Back in the Spring, when Democrats were putting together the federal budget, House Budget Committee ranking member Paul Ryan (R-WI) released a much-mocked Republican alternative, which would have basically canceled the stimulus and instituted a spending freeze of sorts. The ideas in the Republican alternative budget were roundly rebuked by experts, but Ryan wasn't deterred. Instead of accepting defeat, he unveiled some graphs suggesting that, under Republican budgets, spending would be restrained, while under Democratic budgets, it would blow through the roof.

Except his numbers weren't based on any analysis at all. Instead, Ryan used CBO numbers through 2018 and then drew an upward-sloping line on the graph completely at random. It didn't take long for Republicans to catch on and begin claiming that Democratic policies would make government spending half of GDP before the end of the century.

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Health Care

GOP Meme: Senate Health Care Bill Actually Costs $2.5 Trillion

Brian Beutler | November 23, 2009, 3:50PM

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

Whenever a Democratic agenda item spends some time in the spotlight--be it health care or energy--Republicans do a little hocus pocus and claim that, whatever the CBO might believe, the true costs of reform are sky high. So it's no surprise that the new GOP line regarding the Senate health care bill is that it's actually three times more expensive over a 10 year window than the CBO says it will be.

Where does this number--$2.5 trillion--come from? In this USA Today counterpoint, Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), cites this article in The Hill. But the article in question simply quotes Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) who seems to pull the number out of thin air. "When fully implemented, it will cost $2.5 trillion," McConnell said.

And where did McConnell get this idea?

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Sunday Shows

The Sunday Show Line-Ups

Eric Kleefeld | November 13, 2009, 1:50PM

Hillary Clinton, Sec. of State

Here are the line-ups for the Sunday talk shows this weekend:

• ABC, This Week: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

• CBS, Face The Nation: Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT).

• CNN, State Of The Union: White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod; Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH); Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D-MT).

• Fox News Sunday: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY); Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

• NBC, Meet The Press: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA), Rev. Al Sharpton.

Health Care

GOP Girds Itself for "Minor Revolution" as Dems Prepare to Go It Alone on Health Care

Brian Beutler | September 1, 2009, 5:07PM

As Republicans walk away from bipartisan health care negotiations and Democrats prepare to pass reforms on their own, the GOP is sharpening its rhetorical swords ahead of a big legislative fight.

"I think that would wreck our health care system and wreck the Democratic Party if they did that," Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) told reporters during a Tuesday conference call. "[T]here would be a minor revolution in the country."

He's beginning to sound like Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK). Which is telling for a senator who's normally thought of as one of the GOP's less abrasive members. And though Alexander probably isn't the best source of information for what will or will not wreck the Democratic party, his dramatic words signal that the Republicans take the threat seriously.

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Health Care

51 Vote Rules May Force a Public Option Too Liberal for Some Dems

Brian Beutler | September 1, 2009, 12:15PM

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY)

As Senate leaders begin work on a Democrat-only health care bill, they're finding themselves confronted with an unexpected irony: Though the caucus has reached an uneasy consensus around a public option that's modeled in many ways after a private insurer, it may be necessary to make the public option more liberal, and thus, more politically radioactive, if it's to overcome a number of unique procedural hurdles.

This is the needle Democrats may have to thread if they want a public option, and at the same time, want to bypass a Republican filibuster. And the key for them will be keeping conservative Democrats on board.

"A very robust public option that scores significant savings would presumably be easy to justify doing through reconciliation," says a Senate Democratic aide. "But it is still being studied whether other, more moderate versions of a public option could pass parliamentary muster."

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Health Care

Senate Dems: Turnabout's Fair Play on Reconciliation

Brian Beutler | August 24, 2009, 1:13PM

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)

Democratic party leaders have a message for Republicans, who are crying foul over the news that they may get shut out of the health care debate: turnabout's fair play.

In a memo that was drafted and circulated on background in April, Senate Democrats made the case that using a budget reconciliation bill to pass health care reforms is perfectly within their rights, given the Republicans' promiscuous use of the same tactic when they were in power. Excerpts of the memo were published by various news outlets back in the spring, but the memo doesn't appear to have been previously published in its entirety until now. And now, with Democrats ramping up the threat that they'll invoke the process in the fall, they're rehashing those same arguments.

"[S]hould Republicans choose not to cooperate [on health care reform], the inclusion of reconciliation instructions [in the budget] provides a backup option which could be used to prevent a filibuster and approve legislation by a majority vote," the memo reads. "[T]here is nothing unprecedented or unusual about the use of reconciliation."

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