Rachel Maddow whacks the Republicans and the good folks over at ClusterFox who are aiding and abetting them for trying to conflate reconciliation with the nuclear option.

After playing a clip of Lamar Alexander saying that using reconciliation would be a “political Kamikaze mission” and “the end of the United States Senate” if the Democrats used it to pass the health care bill, Rachel notes Alexander’s hypocrisy on the subject. He was more than happy to use it for the Jobs & Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, the Tax Increase Prevention & Reconciliation Act of 2005 and the College Cost Reduction & Access Act of 2007.

Rachel then calls out all too often guest on the Sunday shows Grandpa McCain for his hypocrisy as well. As Rachel notes, McCain wants to change the Senate rules so reconciliation can’t be used for anything involving entitlements and the John McCain of the past felt a bit differently. McCain voted for the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 with Dick Cheney as the tie breaking vote which slashed Medicaid. McCain voted for the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989 which overhauled the doctor payment system for Medicare.

She goes on to explain that the Republicans are now so desperate to win the debate on health care reform since they have already lost the votes in both houses of the Congress that their last resort is to try to conflate reconciling the two bills with the nuclear option, which would have eliminated the filibuster all together.

It’s good to see Rachel calling these guys out for their lies, but sadly too much of the public does not watch her show and is being propagandized by the likes of ClusterFox.