Posted by Tina
** Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is holding the option of using a legislative maneuver to create not only a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s health care system but also a controversial cap and trade energy program, a move that could torpedo bipartisanship. *** The maneuver, known as “reconciliation,” protects legislation to which it’s attached from a Senate filibuster. Republicans, in their deep minority status, are in an uproar over the possibility that they will be all but eliminated from the legislative process. *** “We’re leaving nothing off the table,” Reid told reporters Thursday, a move that has touched off a firestorm of concern behind the scenes. *** So concerned about the possibility of it being used, Sens. Robert Byrd, D-W.V., and Mike Johnanns, R-Neb., sent a letter of strong protest to the majority leader. *** As opponents of proposed cap and trade measures, Byrd, the Senate’s most senior member and lead watchdog of Senate rules and decorum, and Johanns told Reid, “Enactment of a cap-and-trade regime is likely to influence nearly every feature of the U.S. economy. *** “Legislation so far-reaching should be fully vetted and given appropriate time for debate, something the budget reconciliation process does not allow. Using this procedure would circumvent normal Senate practice and would be inconsistent with the Obama dministration’s stated goals of bipartisanship, cooperation, and openness,” they wrote. **