As the Democrats attempt to ram their hugely unpopular idea of health care reform through the legislative process, there is increased interest in how that process works. There's been plenty of talk lately about reconciliation and how the Obama machine will most likely attempt to mis-use this part of the budget process and that brings us to another little known moment in US Senate history known as the Byrd Rule.

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The Byrd Rule, named for Senator Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia), was adopted in 1985 as a way to restrict the Senate from adding "extraneous matter" to a reconciliation bill or conference report. The Budget Act defines "extraneous" in lots of legalspeak but it boils down to provisions that do not change revenues or outlays or would increase the deficit. Any challenge to the content of the bill under the Byrd Rule requires a 60 vote super majority to block. So we're back to needing a 60 vote supermajority to pass Obamacare, reconciliation or no reconciliation, and the Democrats don't have the votes so case closed, right? Not quite.

The next step under the Byrd Rule would be for the President of the Senate (currently Vice President Joe Biden) to ask the Senate Parliamentarian (currently a gentleman named Alan Frumin) for his recommendation regarding whether the provision(s) in question complies with or violates the Byrd Rule. If the parliamentarian recommends that the provision(s) comply, the Senate president dismisses the challenge and the bill goes on in tact. If the parliamentarian recommends that part of the bill violates the Byrd Rule, the Senate president would sustain the challenge and the provision(s) would be stripped from the bill. Again, sounds like reconciliation won't work for the Democrats on Obamacare, right? Not quite.

The recommendation of the Senate Parliamentarian is not binding. His role is strictly advisory and the President of the Senate is not required to follow his advice although his advice is almost always followed. To ignore the parliamentarian's recommendation would be a rare and dangerous political move by the Democrats but given their behavior over the past year, it would not be out of character. Stay tuned.

(For more detailed information on the Byrd Rule, see the fact sheet from the Senate Budge Committee.)