Today at the hill a lone Democratic voice spoke clearly to what will be happening in the Senate come September. Not surprisingly it was Chuck Schumer.
Schumer fills the void of left by Majority Leader Harry Reid by saying some things to push back against Republican Senator Enzi's "we need to hold the entire Democratic Party hostage" rhetoric. Enzi wants "commitments" from Reid, Pelosi, and the Administration that all of the specifics of his bill (whatever they may be) will be included in the final bill.
By talking openly about reconciliation and an eventual floor vote on the public option Shumer shows that the Senate Dems may yet have some fight left in them.
It appears Democrats are generating plans B, C, and D when the Baucus train wreck manifests in september.
One of those backup plans would be using the budget reconciliation process to enable a healthcare bill to pass the Senate with a simple majority rather than the 60 votes usually needed to advance major legislation. The tactic, however, leaves the bill vulnerable to parliamentary objections that could gut provisions of the bill deemed not directly related to deficit reduction.
"That’s clearly one of the contingencies on the table," Schumer said, declining to describe what other plans Democrats have in mind beyond reconciliation if a bipartisan deal fails to materialize. "It’s not going to stop use moving forward with healthcare."
So there it is. If the "deal" fails to materialize, Dems will be moving forward.
Shumer has been a consistent advocate of the public option, and it's good to see his advocacy continue.
Schumer indicated that the public option – anathema to Republicans – would end up in the Senate bill nonetheless.
"I’m optimistic that there will be a good public option at the end of the day," Schumer said, noting that the bills approved by Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and three House committees all include a public option and that President Obama supports the proposal.
"I’m going to fight hard to see that a strong public option emerges from the bill that’s on the Senate floor," Schumer said.