The Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 was the second of President George Walker Bush’s two giant tax cuts for the “have-mores.” It passed on May 23rd, 2003 when the House and Senate agreed to the conference report. In the Senate, the vote was 50-50, and Dick Cheney had to break the tie. Republicans McCain, Snowe, and Chafee voted against it, while Democrats Zell Miller and Ben Nelson voted for it. As should be obvious from the final vote tally (and the bill’s name), the JGTRRA of 2003 did not have the support of 60 senators and could not be passed under the regular order. The bill was passed under budget reconciliation rules.
If you watch the cable news, you’ll see one anchor after another say that using this same budget reconciliation process to enact health care reform will be tremendously divisive. I mean, you thought the townhalls were crazy now? Wait until those lunatics find out that the Senate is going to pass health care reform by a simple majority vote! Someone might get their finger bit off. (Okay, okay, that was an Obama supporter that did the biting, but only after he got punched in the face).
I know it’s easier to cut taxes than to enact positive legislation, but the Republicans never gave a crap about ramming home divisive legislation that lacked bipartisan support (and don’t tell me that Zell Miller and Ben Nelson represent bipartisan support).
And, by the way, the JGTRRA of 2003 was preceded by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA of 2001). That bill also used the reconciliation process and it also passed with less than sixty votes.
I don’t remember a big hue and cry about the unfairness of passing Bush’s tax cuts under reconciliation rules, so it’s hard to take the din on health care reform. But, then, people like Andrea Mitchell directly benefited from the tax cuts but will have to pay a millionaire’s surtax to help fund health reform. So, their position on the issue is less than disinterested.
