Obama paves the way for reconciliation in video address

President Obama’s weekly address to the nation today urged Republicans to come to the bipartisan health care negotiations next week in a “spirit of good faith,” but critics see the plea as just the kind of “political theater” the president condemned in the videotaped message.

“We know the American people want us to reform our health insurance system. We know where the broad areas of agreement are. And we know where the sources of disagreement lie,” the president said.

Absent the necessary votes to overcome a Senate filibuster, the remaining option for the administration is to push the health care reform bill into law using the budget reconciliation process, a legislative procedure that enables the consideration of certain budget-related, contentious bills without the threat of filibuster.

But such an aggressive and unilateral move would likely be highly unpopular, seeing as polls suggest fewer than 40 percent of Americans approve of the president’s handling of health care to this point. That, some suggest, is why the president is attempting to appear ‘above the fray’ with even-handed addresses like this one.

“If the president is sincere about moving forward in a bipartisan fashion, he must take the reconciliation process — which will be used to jam through legislation that a majority of Americans do not want — off the table,” House Minority Whip Eric Cantor said earlier this week.

The warnings do not appear to have fazed top Democrats.

“We’re really trying to move forward on this,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Friday evening on Face to Face with Jon Ralston in Nevada.

SOURCE: The Daily Caller