“Reconciliation is weird. First, Congress needs to adopt a budget resolution (which it doesn\u2019t always do) laying out tax and spending priorities for the future. These resolutions are not laws, the president doesn\u2019t have to sign them, and they pass by simple majority vote. Then with a budget in place you get to write one \u2014 but only one \u2014 bill that aims to \u201creconcile\u201d national tax and spending priorities with the framework laid out in the budget. This reconciliation bill cannot be filibustered. It also cannot change Social Security, or otherwise make big legislative changes that are not directly focused on the budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
… … Biden does not need to treat these ideas as separate from the short-term need to stimulate the economy. He can simply do all five of them, and throw in a short-term boost to unemployment insurance and state\/local budgets and some cash for specific public health interventions. Then the long-term increases in spending can be offset by enacting his proposed tax increases on the rich<\/a>. That will ensure the deficit falls over the long run. But since the short-term deficit is not a problem and the whole idea is to stimulate the economy, the tax cuts can be delayed until 2023.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n …<\/p>\n\n\n\n “To get it done, Biden needs to convince members of Congress that it\u2019s in their collective interest for him to have a successful presidency with a roaring economy and real accomplishments. And if they don\u2019t want to curb the filibuster, they need to get the job done with a massive reconciliation bill.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n …<\/p>\n\n\n\n “if Biden thinks that his personal charm can bring back the low-polarization Senate he remembers from his service there in the 1970s and \u201980s he\u2019s mistaken. And if he genuinely tries to do that, he\u2019s setting himself up for catastrophic failure. Times have changed, the media has changed, institutions have changed, and incentives have changed. The good old days aren\u2019t coming back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, Biden can break the toxic allure of obstruction by refusing to be obstructed.”\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0At Vox, we have often focused on the limits the reconciliation process places on what can be achieved on\u00a0climate policy<\/a>\u00a0or aspirations for\u00a0Medicare-for-all<\/a>. A reconciliation bill also can\u2019t increase the budget deficit over the long run.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But while these limits are very real, they also do open up some fairly large horizons.”\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“a reconciliation bill can do the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Consider the following ideas Biden has embraced:<\/p>\n\n\n\n