Reconciliation is Wrong

President Obama and Congressional leaders are talking about passing their unpopular health care reform through the process known as reconciliation. This would only require a simple majority vote instead of a super majority of 60 votes.

This is a mistake for several reasons.

First, the bill itself is deeply and fundamentally flawed. It is an example of the worst sort of deal making. It will raise taxes and costs. The main beneficiaries will be insurance companies and government bureaucrats.

Second, the bill is deeply unpopular. Polls show that more people are in favor of keeping things the way that they are than passing this bill. Using parliamentary tricks to pass unpopular legislation will hurt the Democrats in the long-run.

Third, it sets a terrible precedent. When they controlled Congress, the Republicans sometimes talked about bypassing the filibuster and doing things (in this case, approving appointments) through simple majority. They were stopped by a bipartisan group. This needs to happen again. The Democrats will not control the Senate forever. They may not control it next year. If they set this precedent now, the Republicans will use it against them later and partisanship will only get worse.

Failure to pass this bill will hurt the Obama administration which will only last for another 3-7 years. Setting a bad president will hurt the nation for decades to come.