Toomey for Senate

Less than one year ago, in March of 2009, Specter spoke insistently against the use of reconciliation. He stated in a press release, “I have sought recognition to comment on the issue of reconciliation which may, according to some speculation, seek to deal with substantive legislative proposals such as health care or perhaps even education or perhaps even global warming. I believe any such effort would be a colossal mistake.”

What's more striking is Specter’s most recent reasoning for the about-face. On Tuesday he told PoliticsPA.com that, after some digging, “he’s discovered lawmakers have used the procedural move many times in the past. I have (supported reconciliation) after taking a look at the precedents and seeing that it has been used very, very broadly.”

30 years as a U.S. Senator and Arlen Specter never realized that the reconciliation process had been used before?

Even stranger, each of the bill examples Specter unearths in the PoliticsPA piece which utilized the reconciliation process – COBRA, S-Chip, and ‘welfare reform bills’ – were voted on by Arlen Specter.

Maybe the Senator’s iPod was turned up too loudly when the votes were called out.