I’ve been amused by the Dems squawking about the way that the GOP Congress has linked ObamaCare to the Budget’s “continuing resolution”.
Foul. Fight fair. Never done. Blah-blah-blah.
Here’s the ironic twist …
Remember how Obama Care was passed?
To refresh your memory, and see the irony …
For the first 2 years of Obama’s reign, Dems controlled both the Congress and had a filibuster-proof super majority in the Senate.
Nothing the GOP could do to stop the train.
The Congress and the Senate passed bills with some differences.
Usually, these differences get hashed out in a conference committee and both chambers re-vote on the compromised bill.
But, Scott Brown threw a wrench into the process.
When he got elected, the Dems lost their super-majority in the Senate.
So, GOP had enough votes to filibuster any bill that came out of a conference committee.
Oops.
So, what did the Dems do?
They used an arcane parliamentary procedure called “reconciliation”, or “The Byrd Rule”
The Byrd Rule — which dodges the Senate’s filibuster rules — was meant for specific and limited uses — to assist lawmakers in passing budgets for a single fiscal year.
But it wasn’t meant to be used to pass complex or controversial legislation. Source
Rather than face a certain and unbreakable Senate filibuster, the Dems passed ObamaCare using a “budget gimmick” – the Byrd Rule.
Now that the GOP Congress is trying to defund or modify ObamaCare by tying it to the budget, the Dems – led by the President – are decrying the use of budget gimmicks to change passed legislation.
Say, what?
As Grandma Homa used to say: “What goes around, comes around.”
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