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Reid threatens to misuse Senate rules to pass health care
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In this July 30, 2009, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. gestures during a news conference on health care legislation on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) threatened yesterday to misuse Senate rules to pass the Obama health care bill.
The four-term Senator said that he was willing to allow the health care bill to be passed as part of budget reconciliation instead of allowing it out of committee for a regular order vote. The reconciliation rule was never intended to pass substantive legislation, especially no bill as sweeping as HR 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, sometimes called "Obamacare" because of the President’s involvement in crafting and promoting the legislation.
Senate Democrats hold a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate where Reid is Majority Leader. Reid gave no reason for why he felt it necessary to threaten Republicans, given that they can do nothing to stop Democratic legislative initiatives.
One possible answer may be that the effort is an attempt by Reid to shore up crumbling support for his leadership at home. In a recent poll by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, 45 percent of voters say they would definitely vote to replace him. A different poll found that about half of Nevada voters had an unfavorable view of Reid.
Poll results like these are fueling speculation that Reid will be toppled in his 2010 reelection bid, prospects for which are creating frenzy among GOP strategists. Such speculation recalls similar defeats by the GOP of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle in 2004 and House Speaker Tom Foley in 1994. Such defeats of Congressional leaders are almost unprecedented, but the GOP has shown that it is capable of doing so, especially against leaders that are so aggressively obstructionist and partisan as Reid appears to be.
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== Outlinks ==
Reid gives GOP direct warning on healthcare
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/59763-reid-gives-gop-direct-warning-on-healthcare
Al Franken declared winner of Minnesota Senate race, giving Democrats filibuster-proof majority
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/06/30/2009-06-30_minnesota_supreme_court_.html
Poll: Reid's re-election numbers don't add up
http://www.lvrj.com/news/45387987.html
Daschle, Democratic Senate Leader, Is Beaten
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/03/politics/campaign/03dakotacnd_.html
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