Majority Rules Does Happen (Update)

With health care reform seemingly on the front burner again, and with a summit scheduled tomorrow, it's worth giving the use of an up or down senate vote on a reform package some serious thought.

Cloture votes have been on the rise since Republicans sunk to the minority party after the 2006 midterm elections. A lot of times this leads people to think the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture is what is required to pass legislation. But cloture is the ability to end debate and move the bill forward. It doesn't pass the bill. It's a good judge as to whether the bill will pass; however, cloture is invoked to overcome a filibuster or the threat of a filibuster not to pass legislation. As you can see from the chart below, cloture votes have dramatically increased with Republicans in a Congressional minority and most notably since they lost the White House.

There is a way around Republican obstructionism, however. It's called majority rules and it's something Republicans used many times while they were in the majority.

Throughout the use of a majority rules vote (something Republicans used to call "the Constitutional option") it has been used 21 times to pass difficult legislation. A majority of which was by Republicans. Most of Gingrich's contract with America was passed via majority rules. Bush's tax cuts, which contribute 40% to the national debt, was passed via majority rules. Even the Republican trillion dollar expansion of Medicare was passed bypassing the filibuster and given an up or down vote. Legislation that greatly increased the national debt Republicans used the intent of the Constitution to pass out of the senate. There's no reason a Democratic bill that actually reduces the deficit instead of increasing it like Republicans have used it for should not be passed the same way.

The White House has rightfully called for an up or down vote and stated they can pass HCR with or without GOP help. So do it. There's really no reason not to.

*Update:

Julie Rovner lays out an excellent piece at NPR Online examining the historical context behind health care legislation and a majority rules vote. Turns out, almost always health care legislation has been passed with a Constitutional simple majority vote.

Writes Rovner:

In fact, over the past three decades, the number of major health financing measures that were NOT passed via budget reconciliation can be counted on one hand. And one of those — the 1988 Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act — was repealed the following year after a backlash by seniors who were asked to underwrite the measure themselves. So using the process to try to pass a health overhaul bill might not be easy. But it won't be unprecedented.

There's no reason why the president's threat to pass HCR by using the Democratic majority in both chambers shouldn't be taken seriously. In fact, just do it that way. There's no reason to dignify Republican obstructionism at all.