Republicans have attacked reconciliation, calling it out of bounds, but they forget that they've used it repeatedly over the years, 34 of the 41 senate republicans in fact. They've been recorded defending reconciliation, and complaining about use of fillibusters from 2000-2008, before setting a historical record of threatening it's use over 100 times in the past year.


– "If you’ve got 51 votes for your position, you win." - Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), 3/15/05

– "For some time, I hoped that my colleagues who oppose reform would allow a majority in both bodies to prevail and do what the vast majority of the American public desires." - Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), 10/15/99

– "It [the filibuster] is the product of a rule of the Senate passed many years after the ratification of the Constitution. This rule does not derive from the authority of the Constitution." - Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO), 5/19/05

– "Filibusters are neither an idea of the founding fathers nor a historical tradition of the Senate." - Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), 4/27/05