Want Health Care Legislation Passed? Use Reconciliation. Period.

With Teddy Kennedy’s seat the latest on Capitol Hill to be unexpectedly close to falling into Republican hands (Snyder‘s and Driehaus‘ being the others), the Powers that Be are finally tacitly admitting that chasing Republican and Conservadem Senate HCR votes was unnecessary and that reconciliation was — and is — possible:

   “Even before Massachusetts and that race was on the radar screen, we prepared for the process of using reconciliation,” said Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

   “Getting health-care reform passed is important,” Van Hollen said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt,” airing this weekend. “Reconciliation is an option.”

Chris Van Hollen and Bernie Sanders both admit what some folks have known all along:  Reconciliation can and will work to pass HCR.

What’s more, it can’t be filibustered AND preserves the parts of the House bill we like (Medicare buy-in/public option, SCHIP/Medicaid expansion, etc.) and leaves out the parts we don’t (the Stupak anti-woman amendment).

Furthermore, since there’s no way any Republican will vote for any HCR bill, reconciliation is not only the better way to achieve a good bill, it is going to be the ONLY way to get ANY bill. Jon Walker explains:

If Coakley loses in Massachusetts, I don’t see how health care reform passes without reviving reconciliation, and, by default, the public option. The evidence indicates that Nancy Pelosi could not find the votes to pass the Senate bill as is. It would seem her only option is to promise to seriously fix the bill right away with reconciliation, or pass a completely redesigned bill using reconciliation. Either way, I don’t see how health care reform could move forward without using reconciliation in some manner.

The bottom line:  Want HCR?  Push for reconciliation, or you won’t get it.

(Crossposted at Daily Kos.)