White House Sets the Table to Use 'Reconciliation' Rules to Finish Health Care Reform - Political Punch

White House Sets the Table to Use 'Reconciliation' Rules to Finish Health Care Reform - Political Punch: "White House officials today publicly made it clear that should Thursday’s bipartisan health care reform summit not result in a legislative kumbaya, with Democrats and Republicans setting aside differences to come together on a bipartisan bill, Democrats are likely to pursue a legislative path for finishing up the bill that includes using controversial “reconciliation” rules in the Senate, requiring a majority vote instead of the 60-vote threshold that has become par for the course.

“The president wants and believes the American people deserve an up-or-down vote on health reform,” White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said Monday morning on a conference call, using the language to describe a 51-vote majority vote, instead of the 60-vote threshold to stave off a potential filibuster.

Pfeiffer also acknowledged that the health care reform proposal the White House posted this morning was designed with practicality –- not theoretical constructs –- in mind. White House officials posted the Senate Democrats’ bill that passed by a party-line vote on Dec. 24, 2009, and a list of fixes to that bill.

The idea is that the House would pass the Senate bill and the House and Senate would both pass a legislative “fix.”"