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Senator Judd Gregg, Republican of New Hampshire, said that if Brown were elected, rushing a bill through or using reconciliation to pass it "would be Chicago politics at its worst.''
"You're talking about basically an approach that says we're going to do whatever we want, and because we've got power, independent of what people think or say or how they may vote,'' he said in a telephone interview last night.
Judd Gregg, then:
"The point, of course, is this: If you have 51 votes for your position, you win," Gregg told his Senate colleagues on the floor.
He added, "Reconciliation is a rule of the Senate (that) has been used before for purposes exactly like this on numerous occasions... Is there something wrong with majority rules? I don't think so." Responding to the argument that it's wrong to use reconciliation on a domestic oil drilling measure, Gregg concluded, "We are using the rules of the Senate as they are set up to be used, and that happens to be the rule of the Senate."
Adding: However MA-Sen turns out, you had better believe that the GOP's craftiest players, like Judd Gregg, are always looking two steps ahead to their next move to keep Democrats from advancing on their agenda. So, if Coakley loses and the media vapors fly, as they surely will, it will be critically important to keep a cool head and play hardball with as keen an eye on the prize as Judd does for his side.
However imperfect the health care reform bill is, however little it does in the way of systemic reform, it will save lives in the near term, and open up a path toward better legislation down the road. Eyes on the prize, everyone.
