It's not exactly a secret that Orrin Hatch is one of the biggest hypocrites in the Republican Party. Which is quite a feat! But given his seniority, and his remarkable talent for finding the nearest television camera, it's fun to monitor his achievements.
Greg Sargent has the latest:
GOP Senator Orrin Hatch is now warning that if Dems pass health care reform via reconciliation it will lead to permanent "war" between the two parties — even though he voted for more than a half dozen GOP bills passed through the process known as...reconciliation.
And Sargent links to this Salt Lake Tribune article:
Hatch said Thursday that using reconciliation would be "one of the worst grabs for power in the history of the country" that would permanently impact relations between the two parties.
"It is going to be outright war and it should be, because it would be such an abuse of the reconciliation rules," Hatch said. "If they abuse those rules it is going to lead to even more heated animosities between not just the two parties, but even between individual senators."
And Sargent then lists and links eight quick examples of Hatch having voted for bills that were passed through reconciliation. Oops.
Steve Benen:
Maybe someone should encourage Hatch to read this report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, on the use of reconciliation by Republicans. I spoke to a top House aide this morning who told me Speaker Pelosi literally read from the CBPP document during the last caucus meeting.
Hatch's threats are a rather pathetic joke. If he's still capable of shame, now would be a good time for some.
Hang on to these links. They may come in handy, if the Democrats do push through health care reform through reconciliation. As many of us hope they will do. Republicans will cry foul. But the only thing foul will be the stink of their own lies and hypocrisy.