"I believe you'd get your ass kicked saying something like that, man."
Posted on 07/30/2011 2:23:05 PM PDT by mdittmar
Washington, D.C. – Nevada Senator Harry Reid made the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the only viable debt ceiling compromise to avert a default. Below are his remarks as prepared for delivery:
Republicans leaders in the House of Representatives wasted this week pursuing a right-wing proposal they knew from the start could not pass the Senate.
From the very beginning the Speaker’s Band-Aid approach was fatally flawed – it would have put us back in this incredible position, fighting the clock to prevent financial collapse, in just a few weeks.
It was a concession to Tea Party extremists, yet it barely passed the House yesterday with only Republican votes. And it failed on a bipartisan basis last night in the Senate.
But knowing all along that this radical legislation – which was neither balanced nor bipartisan – would not and could not pass in our chamber, Democrats have been working on a true compromise in the Senate.
We have solicited ideas from our Republican friends and colleagues. Let it never be said that Democrats in the Senate were afraid to compromise. We welcome it.
As recently as yesterday morning I asked my friend, the Senate Minority Leader, to help make this Senate compromise more palatable to Republicans. Yet we have heard nothing from the Republican leader.
My friend, Sen. McConnell, did not answer the call to negotiate yesterday or any other day this week. He did not come to the table on behalf of his caucus with ideas to improve a proposal already cut from Republican cloth.
But Democrats are still willing to sit down and negotiate. My door is still open.
I appreciate that several of my Republican colleagues have reached out to me over the last few hours, hoping to reach a compromise. Senate Democrats welcome their input and look forward to working with them on a path forward.
But my friend, the Republican leader of the Senate, must come forward as well.
The two parties must work together to forge an agreement that preserves this nation’s economy. We will need the help of reasonable Republicans – including Sen. McConnell – to get this done.
But unbelievably, another filibuster stands in our path.
The Republican filibuster has become routine. From the smallest measure to the greatest matter of national importance, they stall and delay and use every procedural trick in the book to keep this body from doing its job.
But a filibuster at this late hour, and when so much is at risk, is irresponsible. It puts our economy at risk.
A majority vote was good enough for the Speaker’s proposal in the House of Representatives yesterday, but Republicans believe it isn’t good enough for the Senate today.
Rather than filibuster, I ask that my Republican colleagues work with Democrats to make our proposal better.
We have offered a reasonable, rational way for Republicans to help us avert default. Let me tell you about it.
This amendment was written by Democrats with both parties’ principles in mind. It would:
We have made several changes to make this proposition amenable to our Republican colleagues. We have:
This proposal also protects Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits. But as you can see, this amendment was designed to appeal to our Republican colleagues as well as to Democrats.
As I said, we are willing to listen to ideas from the other side to make this proposal better. But time is short.
Already the economy has gone from bad to worse. Stocks continued a weeklong slide yesterday.
I know my Republican colleagues love this country. I believe they want to do what is best for our economy.
That is why together we must avert a default that would jeopardize veterans’ benefits, seniors’ Social Security payments and checks for troops on the front lines. It would also effectively raise taxes on every American family and business, increasing the cost of everything from groceries to the mortgage.
And so I urge them to join me to move forward the only true compromise plan left – in fact, the only option left at all – to save this country from default.
vaudine
Lot of people out there depending on their Government cheese.
It's exactly what Obama promised and the drones voted for:
"We are five days days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America."
There are stirrings of The Connie Mack Penny Plan now that all the traditional political schemes have gone to the wind.
It is already a bill, HR 1848, commonly referred to as The Connie Mack Penny Plan or just The Penny Plan, and it is a simple and no nonsense way to cut back each year beginning right now. It is NOT one of those bills based on saving off of proposed growth.
It has 46 co-sponsors in the House and the entire 103 member Republican Study Committee supports it, and now some Senators are adjoining with it. Marco Rubio has now even endorsed this bill.
It IS a bill already, so it could be voted on fairly quickly. If you are not familiar with it, you should catch up on it.
I started another thread earlier today on Free Republic as a way to help us all (me included) learn more about it.
Here is a link to that thread:
Connie Mack’s “Penny Plan” Gets More Exposure Now With Other Debt Plans Tabled
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2756239/posts
Social Security and Medicare checks will stop?! Have we stop to pay our designated Social Security and Medicare taxes? They cannot be spend on anything else...
That asshat trying to sound like an exasperated parent trying to cajole his recalcitrant teenage child to accept his rules.
Thanks, Nevada.
He’p me, Obiwan Kenobi, or it’s all your fault.
What the heck, I decided to borrow all the money from myself on 10% interest, to buy jewelry, art and gold, then, in the end of the year, I'll be on top of that 10% richer. Then I repeat it several times until I accumulate both significant cash and property wealth.
Mr. Obama and Mr. Reid's financial eternal engine...
“Social Security and Medicare checks will stop?!”
All the characters coming and going to-and-from Foggy Bottom have assured us, over-and-over, that all the SS money that has been squeezed from us over the years is safely put away in a lockbox ...
They weren’t lying to us, were they? Have they actually been spending that money as fast as they can?
Round up the usual suspects; start with Congress, less the Tea Party.
We are there. Businesses have been closing around here like dominoes toppling over. It’s an economic nightmare.
Harry isn’t talking to the Republicans — he’s talking to the liberal Democrat base. Talking to someone like that in the real world would earn you a black eye.
"I believe you'd get your ass kicked saying something like that, man."
I'm sure that some Republicans are trying, but the MSM drones are just deleting those interviews from their camcorders.
Excellent rant. Mega dittos...
For the last time, can we just leave his religion out of this? Conflating his religion with his flawed character reflects badly on our side. Seriously - knock it off!
Wait........you said "moron".....
Ooops....carry on ;-)
That’s being mighty generous.
You are being played by both sides.
Here is tonights show at the DC Playhouse.
Mcconnell won’t negotiate with Reid.
Only Obama.
Thinks OBama can broker the deal.
Say what????????????????
Yes, that’s right. Traitor M is giving Obama the status of centrist negotiator.
Isn't it time, Mr. Reid, your able bodied freeloaders were weened off the public teat?
The taxpaying slaves are rebelling. That must scare them to death. No slave labor - no money to buy votes from the democrat freeloaders. (The pharaohs know that Moses is on his way.)
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