Obama Signs Reconciliation Bill

Daily Kos Staff

Tuesday March 30, 2010 · 9:03 AM PDT

2010/03/30 · 09:03

Now health insurance reform is done, or at least the first stage of it. President Obama signed the reconciliation fix to health insurance and student loan reform this morning, issuing this statement: (via e-mail):

“For a long time, our student loan system has worked for banks and financial institutions,” President Obama said. “Today, we’re finally making our student loan system work for students and all of our families.”

“This legislation is a win for students and parents struggling to make ends meet to fulfill the dream of a college education,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said. “By ending subsidies to banks, we can make important investments that increase affordability and access to our nation’s universities and community colleges.”

Notice what's missing there? Yeah, health insurance reform. It's kind of anti-climatic for the procedure geeks among us, those who have been pushing reconciliation as the way this reform was going to have to be done since last summer. Without the bill Obama signed today, with no fanfare, there would have been no health reform signing ceremony last week. And certainly, there would have been no student loan reform, with Lincoln and Nelson steadfastly opposed.

So here's a hat-tip to those Senators, including Kent Conrad and Harry Reid, who had the foresight back in February of 2009 when they were writing the budget to allow for this eventuality--passing both education and health reform via reconciliation. And to the procedure geeks like David W. who wouldn't let it go.

Comments are closed on this story.