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Politico releases 2021 version of 'I'm Just a Bill' that trashes filibuster, hails reconciliation
By Joseph Wulfsohn
Published October 01, 2021
Politico released a video on Thursday what it's calling the "2021 version" of the classic "Schoolhouse Rock!" educational song "I'm Just a Bill."
"Having watched the infrastructure bill trying to make its way through reconciliations and vote-a-ramas, we decided it was time to revisit ‘I’m Just a Bill,'" Politico cartoonist Matt Wuerter said in the video's introduction.
The video begins with a child greeting a bill on the steps of Capitol Hill, who warns the young girl "it's become one wild ride" to get a bill passed by Congress.
The bill is seen riding into the Senate where drafting legislation happens "behind closed doors."
"It's the filibuster they try to get around," the bill says. "These days, a supermajority isn't easily found."
The bill strolls past cartoon depictions of Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., both seen assaulting the talking sheet of paper with a baseball bat and a hammer. The bill also rides by a scolding Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., holding a whip.
"I'm just a bill, yes I'm only a bill, and I got as far as Capitol Hill, I am now gridlocked in the Senate ‘cause of partisan bluster, but if they can free me from the filibuster, I ought to pass muster, if 60 senators vote for me, how I pray that they will but today I am still just a bill," the bill sings as he approaches a paper shredder-looking "Filibuster-O-Matic," where other bills are meeting their demise.
"It sounds like you're not getting any further," the child says. "The minority's filibuster has you trapped!"
"Not this time," the bill replies as he's seen parachuting to safety. "I'm one of the lucky ones. If we can get past the Senate Parlimentarian, they can declare that I can go right to reconciliation! If she rules favorably, I don't die!"
"Reconciliation? Now, what the heck is that?" the child asks.
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The bill says reconciliation is an "obscure part of law" that gives bills "special powers" that prevent them from getting "locked up by the filibuster," adding "Thanks to reconciliation, a simple majority gets me out of the Senate" before heading into the vote-a-rama.
The bill goes on to explain the process of going to conference with the White House where a "whole lot of wheeling and dealing" takes place and returns to the Senate and House of Representatives once more before landing on President Biden's desk.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/politico-im-just-a-bill-filibuster-reconciliation