Blue Dog Boyd MUST be Applauded for Exhibiting Bipartisan Behavior; Bullish Development for Certain Sectors; Bottom Definitely a Bit Closer Today!

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--One of three House Democrats tasked with negotiating a final congressional budget resolution broke with his House colleagues Thursday, saying he doesn't believe a controversial fast-track procedure for health care and education policy reform should be included in the final agreement. Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Fla., said that he doesn't think the procedure, known as reconciliation, should be included in the budget agreement that will be finalized in the coming days. Reconciliation allows legislation to be approved by a simple majority in the Senate rather than the 60-vote super majority normally required for major bills. It gives Democratic lawmakers a powerful weapon to have in their armory when trying to reach a consensus with Republicans on health care and education policy changes. House Democrats included reconciliation language for health care and education policy reform in their version of the budget resolution. It does not appear in the Senate bill, even though the language is aimed at making passage of health care or education legislation easier in the Senate. The House resolution set a deadline of Sept. 30 for legislation be agreed to by Congress before reconciliation would be employed. Health care, education and energy policy reform are the three highest domestic priorities of both the Obama administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress. Boyd sided with Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, who is the Democrats' point man on budget negotiations in the Senate. Boyd said that he would prefer that the type of substantive reform that is on the table is dealt with on a bipartisan basis, rather than with Democrats' using a controversial procedural tactic to force their reforms through Congress. Conrad acknowledged Thursday that the White House is putting pressure on lawmakers to quickly conclude negotiations on the budget resolution. The resolution is non-binding on Congress but provides a road map for lawmakers' spending priorities for the coming fiscal year. Even with Boyd's support, with House Democratic leadership and the White House urging the inclusion of the reconciliation language, it is uncertain how long Conrad will be able to resist their pressure. It is possible a deal could be reached between Democratic House and Senate lawmakers on the budget as soon as next week. Boyd is a member of the House Budget Committee, as well as one of the senior figures in the fiscally-conservative Blue Dogs Coalition, a group of House Democrats who advocate greater spending restraint by Congress. He was appointed along with House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt, D-S.C., and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Ct., as the three House Democratic budget negotiators. The Senate has yet to formally appoint its negotiators, but is expected to do so later Thursday. -By Corey Boles, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6601; corey.boles@dowjones.com Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=GkIz17osQJufzhTfqirNCw%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day. (END) Dow Jones Newswires April 23, 2009 15:51 ET (19:51 GMT) Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 03 51 PM EDT 04-23-09