Via Breitbart, of course he won’t promise. If he admits that it’s an extraordinary, and extraordinarily dubious, move that should be used sparingly if at all, he destroys its credibility as a means of passing O-Care. If he says that it’s A-OK and fit to be used whenever they like because, as the oft-repeated talking point goes, the stupid public doesn’t care about procedure, then he’ll draw even more media scrutiny to the process. So he’s stuck in no man’s land. But here’s the irony: Given how ruthless they’ve been in trying to ram this through and how contentious the battle will be during reconciliation, partisan relations will be so thoroughly poisoned when it’s over that they might be forced to resort to arcane procedures to pass anything. This is, quite possibly, the beginning of a new phase in bitter gridlock where even the small jobs bill that drew 11 Republican votes in the Senate will be unable to pass and reconciliation will be required to move even on that. Wonderful.
Unasked and unanswered here: How Gibbs feels about the White House blessing this tactic as a legitimate way to pass unpopular legislation vis-a-vis future Republican majorities in the House. Two can play at this game, after all. And will.
Update: In a similar vein, and laying aside the merits of O-Care, read Fred Barnes on how this isn’t the end of America’s long national nightmare but only the very, very beginning.
