In my interview with Sen. Schumer today, I also asked him if reconciliation was still on the table for healthcare reform. He talked about how it wasn't the preferred way to go because of the complications and limitations, but didn't say it wasn't the route anyone wanted to take. Now that Joe Lieberman has pulled another Lieberman, that needs to be revisited.
Back in September, when the potential for reconciliation came up, Schumer thought it had potential. Here he is, in the context of having a full caucus, before Sen. Kennedy's seat had been filled.
Are you planning on having an interim appointment from Massachusetts?
No, I don’t know. That would be up to the Massachusetts state legislature but I know they’re considering it. Ah, so, so the bottom line is that even with 60 or even if Olympia Snowe comes to some kind of agreement, it’s going to be hard, and I’ve always favored using reconciliation for good parts of the bill. I think that will get you the best bill, the strongest bill and the bill that will have the greatest positive effect on the American people. Ultimately, we’ll be judged not by whether we pass the bill, but ultimately we’ll be judged by whether it works. Leaving the bill as something that doesn’t work, even if we pass it, leading to hurting both the country and the party.
Is it possible that using reconciliation will produce an ineffective bill, because of procedural problems like the Byrd rule?
We’ve looked at it and you can’t use reconciliation for everything, [but] you can use it for a good number of things. There’s nothing wrong with using it for the places where you can use it and then trying to get the 60 votes on the places where when you can’t. You’d be surprised — the number of places where you can use it is larger than we first thought.
Let's use reconciliation for the good parts of the bill, like a robust public option that Schumer says would be most effective, and use the regular legislative process for the insurance company refroms, etc.
And, while the Senate is at it, they should be stripping Lieberman's chairmanship and removing him from the caucus.