Two Moderate Democrats Oppose Reconciliation For Health Care Bill, Where’s Kent Conrad?

North Dakota’s allegedly “moderate” Senator Kent Conrad pulled off a rather spectacular flip-flop on using the reconciliation process to bypass the filibuster on the health care bill. After getting self righteous with the Wall Street Journal when that paper reported accurately on Senator Conrad’s duplicity on the matter, the self-anointed “deficit hawk” went ahead and broke his promise by clearing the way for the procedural maneuver anyway.
But now two moderate Democrats are crying fowl on using the procedure, which was intended to make budgeting and deficit reduction easier, for passing sweeping legislation such as the health care bill. Begging the question, why hasn’t Senator Conrad joined them?

Washington (CNN) – Two moderate Democratic Senators facing re-election battles this year said Tuesday they would oppose using a legislative tool that requires only 51 Senate votes to get health care legislation to President Barack Obama’s desk.
Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Indiana, called the move, known as reconciliation, “ill-advised,” while Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Arkansas, issued a news release rejecting the procedure.
“I will not accept any last-minute efforts to force changes to health insurance reform issues through budget reconciliation, and neither will Arkansans,” Lincoln said in the statement.

Senator Bayh and Senator Lincoln are both voicing the same concerns for using reconciliation on the health care bill that Senator Conrad has before. The difference? They’re backing their words up with action.
Of course, Bayh and Lincoln are up for re-election this year. Senator Conrad has until 2012. Maybe Conrad is hoping we’ll forget his deception and duplicity by the time election day rolls around again.