News of Sen. Robert Byrd’s (D-WV) death has been met with an outpouring of reverence for his distinguished career, with even political opponents, like Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), praising Byrd’s “remarkable life” and “devotion to the U.S. Constitution.” But Steve Forbes, CEO of Forbes Inc. and perennial GOP presidential candidate, celebrated Byrd’s death, declaring that it was “good news” for those opposed to Wall Street reform:

Byrd’s death does indeed imperil the final passage of financial reform bill, but Forbes could show a little more respect by hiding his glee at the prospect of his Wall Street friends getting off the hook. The major threat to the bill comes from Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), who has threatened to vote against the measure, even though he secured a special deal and has been supportive thus far. Forbes is a co-chair of the corporate-funded astroturf group FreedomWorks, which helped Brown win his seat in January. (HT: Wonkette)

Over the last few days, Republicans have repeatedly cited Sen. Robert Byrd’s (D-WV) opposition to passing comprehensive health care reform through the reconciliation process as proof that Democrats are skirting Senate rules to “ram through” unpopular legislation. Republicans reason that if Byrd — the Senate pro tempore and an architect of reconciliation — believes that the process cannot be applied to reform, then Democrats — who no longer have a supermajority in the Senate — should “scrap” the existing legislation and “start over” on a bipartisan basis:

– SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER (R-TN): “As Senator Byrd says, running health care through the Senate like a freight train is an outrage because it basically turns the Senate into the House, into a majoritarian institution.” [The Atlantic, 3/04/2010]

– SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): “The man who wrote the Byrd rule is Robert Byrd. He said so as recently in the last twelve months that it should not be used for health care.” [Washington Times, 2/25/2010]

– SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R-UT): “Less than a year ago, the longest-serving member of the Senate, West Virginia Democrat Robert Byrd, said, ‘I was one of the authors of the legislation that created the budget ‘reconciliation’ process in 1974, and I am certain that putting health-care reform . . . legislation on a freight train through Congress is an outrage that must be resisted.” [The Washington Post, 3/01/2010]

But as it turns out, Byrd doesn’t oppose using the reconciliation process to pass a small package of fixes to the Senate health care bill. In a letter to the editor published in Thursday’s Charleston Daily Mail, Byrd writes that it’s appropriate to use reconciliation on a package that reduces the deficit.

“I believed then, as now, that the Senate should debate the health reform bill under regular rules, which it did,” Byrd wrote. “The entire Senate- or House- passed health care bill could not and would not pass muster under the current reconciliation rules, which were established under my watch.” “Yet a bill structured to reduce deficits by, for example, finding savings in Medicare or lowering health care costs, may be consistent with the Budget Act, and appropriately considered under reconciliation.”

So now that “the longest-serving member of the Senate” has endorsed the Democrats’ strategy, will Republicans abandon their campaign against majority rule? It’s unlikely.

Cross-posted on The Wonk Room.

The Marsh Fork Elementary School in West Virginia sits just 300 feet from a Massey Energy coal silo and “downhill from a slurry impoundment.” Massey’s plans to build a second silo are facing “protests from environmentalists and some residents over the threat of flood and claims that children are exposed to coal dust, among other things,” especially because the company is refusing to build a new school, away from the toxic chemicals. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) is taking Massey to task for its “disregard for human life and safety“:

“Such arrogance suggests a blatant disregard for the impact of their mining practices on our communities, residents and particularly our children,” Byrd said in a statement. “These are children’s lives we are talking about.” [...]

“If Massey were not operating near Marsh Fork Elementary, we would not be debating what to do about moving these young students someplace safer,” Byrd said. “This is not the taxpayers’ burden to remedy. This is Massey Energy’s responsibility to address.“

Massey has criticized Byrd’s comments, noting that the school district never asked the company for funding. (Regardless, Massey has said it has no interest in donating any money because it already “pays millions of dollars in taxes each year.”) Brad Johnson has more here on what Massey and the coal industry have really given West Virginia.

Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) issued a statement today, saying that his “heart and soul weeps at the lost [sic] of my best friend in the Senate, my beloved friend, Ted Kennedy.” Byrd also encouraged Congress to carry on Kennedy’s fight by passing health care reform and naming the legislation after the late senator:

In his honor and as a tribute to his commitment to his ideals, let us stop the shouting and name calling and have a civilized debate on health care reform which I hope, when legislation has been signed into law, will bear his name for his commitment to insuring the health of every American.

In May 2008, Byrd gave some touching remarks about Kennedy, who had just been diagnosed with brain cancer:

Other lawmakers are now invoking Kennedy’s “spirit” to continue the push for health care reform. Today on CNN, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said that Kennedy’s absence is already being felt. “I think we may have made progress on this health care issue if he had been there. He had this unique capability to sit people down at a table together — and I’ve been there on numerous occasions — and really negotiate, which means concessions. And so, he not only will be missed, but he has been missed.”