Senate Reconciliation was established in 1974 under the Democrat-controlled 93rd Congress. Reconciliation exists for a very specific purpose: to eliminate the threat of a minority party filibuster on budget bills. It has been used 22 times since its inception, and I'll trust Senator Reid's figure that 16 of those were by Republicans—most recently to pass the "Bush Tax Cuts." However, Reid is incredibly misleading when he says Republicans should "stop crying about Reconciliation as if it's never been done before." While it has been used to pass budget-related legislation, it has never been used to create a new program—though not for lack of trying.
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Senate Reconciliation 101
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Senate Reconciliation was established in 1974 under the Democrat-controlled 93rd Congress. Reconciliation exists for a very specific purpose: to eliminate the threat of a minority party filibuster on budget bills. It has been used 22 times since its inception, and I'll trust Senator Reid's figure that 16 of those were by Republicans—most recently to pass the "Bush Tax Cuts." However, Reid is incredibly misleading when he says Republicans should "stop crying about Reconciliation as if it's never been done before." While it has been used to pass budget-related legislation, it has never been used to create a new program—though not for lack of trying.