{"id":2978,"date":"2010-02-24T23:45:24","date_gmt":"2010-02-24T23:45:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonicfrog.net\/?p=2978"},"modified":"2010-02-25T00:19:44","modified_gmt":"2010-02-25T00:19:44","slug":"stupid-meme-alert-the-new-nuclear-option","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonicfrog.net\/?p=2978","title":{"rendered":"Stupid Meme Alert &#8211; The (New) Nuclear Option."},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Stupid%20Meme%20Alert%20-%20The%20%28New%29%20Nuclear%20Option.\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div><p>I have to agree with Harry Reid on this one&#8230;  It hurt to type that&#8230;. Just kidding. I&#8217;m not that fragile. Here is Reid.<\/p>\n<p><object width=\"560\" height=\"340\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/mDQ7b-7og9Q&#038;hl=en_US&#038;fs=1&#038;\"><\/param><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"><\/param><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"><\/param><embed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/mDQ7b-7og9Q&#038;hl=en_US&#038;fs=1&#038;\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" width=\"560\" height=\"340\"><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n<p>He does have a valid point. I don&#8217;t care who it is. If the point is valid&#8230;\u00a0 it is valid. If the Republicans HAVE used reconciliation to get things they wanted through congress, which it appears they indeed have, then they have no standing to complain that Democrats are using the same method to get what they want. Do I like this bill? No. Do I like this procedure? No. But what&#8217;s good for the goose is good for the gander. <\/p>\n<p>Advise to Republicans&#8230;  <a href=\"http:\/\/www.breitbart.tv\/obama-dems-in-2005-51-vote-nuclear-option-is-arrogant-power-grab-against-the-founders-intent\/\">This Is Not A Nuclear Option<\/a>, OK?<\/p>\n<p>This procedure has been used a number of times by both Republican and Democratic administrations. Politico <a href=\"http:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/stories\/0309\/20400_Page2.html\">notes<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Using the measure to advance controversial administration priorities is hardly unusual. Bush used the process to push through his 2001 tax cuts, while Bill Clinton employed reconciliation to win approval of a deficit reduction package&#8230;,<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The term &#8220;Nuclear&#8221; implies both rarity of use and an unimaginable consequence of the action. Reconciliation is neither.  When the Republicans were thinking of changing Senate rule to disallow the ability of the minority to filibuster judges, it was nuclear because the Senate hadn&#8217;t made this kind of rule change in a very long time, and the change was intended to explicitly hog-tie the minority party. The use of Reconciliation, though I don&#8217;t agree with its use here, would be nothing new, and would be following the rules already in place.  Think Progress, not a favorite site by any means, never the less has <a href=\"http:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/2009\/03\/24\/budget-reconciliation\/\">a list of some of the instances<\/a> where it was used:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1980<br \/>\nOmnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981<br \/>\nTax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982<br \/>\nOmnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1982<br \/>\nOmnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1983<br \/>\nConsolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985<br \/>\nOmnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986<br \/>\nOmnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987<br \/>\nOmnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989<br \/>\nOmnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990<br \/>\nOmnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993<br \/>\nBalanced Budget Act of 1995 (vetoed)<br \/>\nPersonal Responsibility and Budget Reconciliation Act of 1996<br \/>\nBalanced Budget Act of 1997<br \/>\nTaxpayer Relief Act of 1997<br \/>\nTaxpayer Refund and Relief Act of 1999 (vetoed)<br \/>\nMarriage Tax Relief Act of 2000 (vetoed)<br \/>\nEconomic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001<br \/>\nJobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003<br \/>\nThe Deficit Reduction Act of 2005<br \/>\nTax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Note they are ALL budget specific. A better argument against the use of Reconciliation is that it is supposed to be used only for budgetary purposes. The list above clearly supports that line of attack.  Of course there is one problem. The very same Republicans complaining about the use of Reconciliation, the &#8220;New Nuclear Option&#8221;, for the health care bill, tried to use the procedure to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling in 2005. They ultimately failed, but they tried.   From a cached <a href=\"http:\/\/www.commongroundcommonsense.org\/forums\/lofiversion\/index.php\/t21422.html\">ABC News report<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\nWASHINGTON Mar 2, 2005 \u2014 A Senate showdown over an Alaska wildlife refuge is expected within weeks as Republicans plan to use a budget measure to overcome strong opposition to allowing oil drilling in the protected area.<\/p>\n<p>It will be first big environmental issue facing the new Congress.<\/p>\n<p>Republican leaders indicated Tuesday that they plan to press the issue of drilling in Alaska&#8217;s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as part of a so-called budget reconciliation process, which cannot be subject to a Democratic filibuster a tactic that has blocked the refuge&#8217;s development in the past.<\/p>\n<p>Given the wider GOP majority in the Senate, Republicans said they think they have the best chance yet to open the presumably oil-rich but environmentally sensitive Alaska refuge to oil drilling, which has been one of President Bush&#8217;s top energy priorities.<\/p>\n<p>Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg, R-N.H. said it was reasonable to assume ANWR, as the refuge is commonly called, would be part of the budget measure.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;The president asked for it, and we&#8217;re trying to do what the president asked for,&#8221;<\/strong> Gregg said Tuesday after meeting privately with Republicans on his panel&#8230;..<\/p>\n<p>Supporters of pumping the refuge&#8217;s oil believe they have the 51 votes needed to get the measure through as part of the budget process. Opponents aren&#8217;t ready to concede that, although they remain certain that GOP leaders don&#8217;t have the 60 votes needed to overcome a certain filibuster by opponents if ANWR drilling is in separate legislation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>And you wonder why I have absolutely no delusions that the Republican party has changed at all.<\/p>\n<p>PS. I just came across <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/templates\/story\/story.php?storyId=124009985\">another list<\/a> of stuff passed via &#8220;The New Nuclear Option&#8221;:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>A History Of Reconciliation<\/p>\n<p>For 30 years, major changes to health care laws have passed via the budget reconciliation process. Here are a few examples:<\/p>\n<p>1982 \u2014 TEFRA: The Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act first opened Medicare to HMOs<\/p>\n<p>1986 \u2014 COBRA: The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act allowed people who were laid off to keep their health coverage, and stopped hospitals from dumping ER patients unable to pay for their care<\/p>\n<p>1987 \u2014 OBRA &#8217;87: Added nursing home protection rules to Medicare and Medicaid, created no-fault vaccine injury compensation program<\/p>\n<p>1989 \u2014 OBRA &#8217;89: Overhauled doctor payment system for Medicare, created new federal agency on research and quality of care<\/p>\n<p>1990 \u2014 OBRA &#8217;90: Added cancer screenings to Medicare, required providers to notify patients about advance directives and living wills, expanded Medicaid to all kids living below poverty level, required drug companies to provide discounts to Medicaid<\/p>\n<p>1993 \u2014 OBRA &#8217;93: created federal vaccine funding for all children<\/p>\n<p>1996 \u2014 Welfare Reform: Separated Medicaid from welfare<\/p>\n<p>1997 \u2014 BBA: The Balanced Budget Act created the state-federal childrens&#8217; health program called CHIP<\/p>\n<p>2005 \u2014 DRA: The Deficit Reduction Act reduced Medicaid spending, allowed parents of disabled children to buy into Medicaid<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Yep. They are all health related acts. There goes that argument against using the procedure.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, the NPR piece also twists and leaves out facts. They provide two quotes from Republicans:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Budget reconciliation, Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ) told reporters Tuesday, &#8220;was never designed for a large, comprehensive piece of legislation such as health care, as you all know. It&#8217;s a budget exercise, and that&#8217;s why some refer to it as the &#8216;nuclear option.'&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>And<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;The use of expedited reconciliation process to push through more dramatic changes to a health care bill of such size, scope and magnitude is unprecedented,&#8221; Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Yet, all the examples provided above involving health care revisions were all attached to larger budgetary omnibus bills, and it appears that none were stand alone bills passed through Reconciliation.<\/p>\n<p>So, in the end &#8211; it&#8217;s a tie for stupidness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Stupid%20Meme%20Alert%20-%20The%20%28New%29%20Nuclear%20Option.\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div><p>I have to agree with Harry Reid on this one&#8230; It hurt to type that&#8230;. Just kidding. I&#8217;m not that fragile. Here is Reid. He does have a valid point. I don&#8217;t care who it is. If the point is valid&#8230;\u00a0 it is valid. If the Republicans HAVE used reconciliation to get things they wanted [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39,27,21],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonicfrog.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2978"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonicfrog.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonicfrog.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonicfrog.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonicfrog.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2978"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/sonicfrog.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2980,"href":"https:\/\/sonicfrog.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2978\/revisions\/2980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonicfrog.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonicfrog.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonicfrog.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}