Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has sent a letter to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) warning that–as we reported Friday–Democrats will give Republicans until mid-October to reach a compromise on comprehensive health care legislation before the Democrats use the budget reconciliation process to circumvent the filibuster and pass reform.
Nearly 46 million Americans – including 15 percent of your constituents in Kentucky – have no health insurance, and the problem grows worse by the day. In Nevada, more than one out of three people under the age of 65 went without health insurance during 2007 and 2008 – and more than three-quarters of them went without health care for six months or longer.
In order for this bipartisan process to take root, Republicans must demonstrate a sincere interest in legislating. Rather than just saying no, you must be willing to offer concrete and constructive proposals. We cannot afford more of the obstructionist tactics that have denied or delayed Congress’ efforts to address so many of the critical challenges facing this nation….
Make no mistake – we are determined to reform health care this year. Our strong preference is to do so by working alongside you and your caucus. The health of our citizens and our economy are at stake; neither will be able to recover if we do not….
We look forward to hearing your ideas and working with you. The budget we will vote on this week gives us nearly six months to work together toward a comprehensive reform bill. Let’s use that time to work together in our common interest rather than against each other and against the interests of the American people…. There is a seat for you at the table; we hope you take it.
You can read the whole letter here. One important thing to keep in mind is that, if the standard Senate process fails to produce binding legislation, the resulting process–reconciliation–isn’t just a straightforward slam dunk. Republicans and outside interests will still be able to interfere in a number of ways, and corrupt the resulting legislation in a number of ways. But, as we’ve seen several times already this session, 60 votes is a high hurdle, even when the Democratic caucus is 58 members large.
