The White House said reconciliation, the leading tactic to win passage of the healthcare bill, was nothing extraordinary, while Republicans accuse the Democratic majority of trying to ram through legislation using a parliamentary trick that Republicans say was never designed for such a big bill, the Wall Street Journal reports. Reconciliation allows the Senate to pass a bill with a simple majority, without needing 60 votes to override a filibuster. In a speech on Wednesday, President Obama is expected to call on Congress to pass the sweeping Democratic health bill using reconciliation.
Margaret Dick Tocknell is a reporter/editor with HealthLeaders Media.
