Do Democrats Plan to Ram Health Care Bill Through Via Reconciliation?

As I noted yesterday, the health care bill bringing to life the public option is very important to the Democrat party, but not for the reasons they publicize. They want it in the worst way, but are they prepared to drop a huge bomb on the Congress to get it done?

Sen. Charles Schumer said something that is making more than a few pundits wonder if the answer is yes:

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., raised the possibility again today that Democrats might use a process known as reconciliation to approve health care legislation pending in the Senate. The procedure would allow Democrats to pass a health care bill with a simple majority — 51 votes — rather than the 60 normally needed.

The comments were made in a conference call with reporters in which Schumer and Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., were set to talk about the “need for Republican cooperation on health care,” according to the advisory distributed beforehand. “If the Republicans are not able to produce an agreement we will have contingencies in place,” Schumer said during the call. Asked if reconciliation was among the backup plans, Schumer said: “That’s clearly one of the contingencies on the table, yes.” Asked if there were any other “contingencies” on the table, Schumer said, “I’m going to leave it at what I said.”

That would be a huge move for the Democrats.

My first thought is, “Go for it.” As I wrote before, the Republicans need to let the Democrats own everything. Say, “No, this is a bad idea. Here’s how you fix it.” And offer a better alternative based on liberty and freedom, not Marxism.

But if they try reconciliation, no Republican should vote in favor of the bill. Make that vote on pure politics, since that is what you understand best. Make the Democrats own this failure.