Free Republic

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) says he wants to enact a new guest worker program as part of a comprehensive immigration reform bill that he is vowing to take up in Congress. Reid announced his intention to enact a new guest worker program last week despite the fact that the economy is in a deep recession and the national unemployment rate has reached 9.4%, a level that has not been seen since 1983 and that is rare in the post-World War II era. President Obama, meanwhile, will host a meeting at the White House on Thursday to discuss comprehensive...

The Senate majority leader’s about-face on high-speed rail. On Tuesday, Senate majority leader Harry Reid’s office confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that the Nevada senator no longer favors publicly funding a high-speed magnetic-levitation (“maglev”) train between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, a project he enthusiastically supported for years. Instead, Reid is suddenly throwing his support behind the DesertXpress, a privately funded rail venture between the two cities. Reid is claiming that his change of heart is merely pragmatic — but the underlying circumstances of the move may raise some pertinent questions about his political integrity. The construction of a...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) “dared” members of his own Conference to vote against the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court during a meeting Thursday with Latino leaders. During a brief press conference after the session, Reid reaffirmed his support for Sotomayor’s nomination and issued his challenge to Democratic lawmakers: “I dare any one of them to say they’re not” supporting Sotomayor. Reid’s statement comes on the heels of comments by Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) — a moderate Member with a strong independent streak — in which he questioned some of Sotomayor’s statements on race and the...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is backing off his promising pronouncement today that Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s brain cancer is in “remission.” Reid’s office told the Herald tonight they are looking forward to Kennedy’s return to office, but any cancer updates will be left to the professionals. “Senator Reid will leave the diagnosing to doctors. But he does look forward to the prospect of Senator Kennedy’s return to the Senate as soon as he is able,” said Reid’s spokesman Jim Manley.

A New York banker with roots in Ely is exploring a run against U.S. Sen. Harry Reid. John Chachas, a managing director of Lazard Ltd., has been talking to Republican Party bigwigs in Nevada and Washington who are anxious to find a credible challenger to the Senate majority leader, sources said this week. Chachas declined to comment Thursday on the speculation about his potential candidacy. Chachas' interest in the race is said to be active but preliminary: He feels strongly that Reid could be felled by a strong opponent and would be willing to step into that role if no...

Reid: Roberts 'didn't tell us the truth' By: Manu Raju March 27, 2009 11:02 AM EST Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Friday that John Roberts misled the Senate during his confirmation hearings by pretending to be a moderate – and that the United States is now “stuck” with him as chief justice. “Roberts didn’t tell us the truth, at least Alito told us who he was,” Reid said, referring to the second Supreme Court justice nominated by President George W. Bush, Samuel Alito. “But we’re stuck with those two young men, and we’ll try to change by having some...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is holding the option of using a legislative maneuver to create not only a sweeping overhaul of the nation's health care system but also a controversial cap and trade energy program, a move that could torpedo bipartisanship. The maneuver, known as "reconciliation," protects legislation to which it's attached from a Senate filibuster. Republicans, in their deep minority status, are in an uproar over the possibility that they will be all but eliminated from the legislative process. But Republicans are not alone in their opposition. A sizable number of Democrats have protested the move; first and...

A year from now, Harry Reid is muttering to the cameras that Senate Democrats have conceded defeat on card check, the measure that would effectively end secret ballots for union organizing elections. He is speaking in disappointed tones about the bipartisan bill passed without card check, but as he turns to go back to his office, he has a sly smile on his face. Why? Defenders of secret ballots in union elections have stayed vigilant and enlightened the public on the realities of card check. The results are already promising. Polls show large public majorities favor the right to a...

ABC News' Jonathan Karl reports: The House Appropriations Committee just posted its $410 billion 2009 Omnibus spending bill. It's a doozy. This is the bill that will fund the government's operations until the end of the fiscal year. It's larded with thousands (so many, I can't count them all yet) of earmarks and adds up an increase in overall discretionary spending of more than 8 percent, the biggest one year increase since 1978 (with the exception of the spending boost after the September 11 attacks). And this is a bi-partisan feeding frenzy. Roughly 40 percent of the money for earmarks...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has taken steps to mend his relationship with Sen. John McCain after a bruising election year, but an upcoming vote on legislation loaded with earmarks could test their fragile détente. The Senate this week may debate a $410 billion package of spending bills that includes thousands of member projects. Sen. McCain (R-Ariz.) staunchly opposes them, while Reid (D-Nev.) insists the furor over earmarks is overblown. All this might be another healthy debate for the world’s most deliberative body if it were not for another recent disagreement — McCain thought he was the best candidate to...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Sunday that "legal authority" exists under the Constitution to bar embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's pick to fill President-elect Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat, but added there is also room to negotiate. Under the Constitution, Reid said, "We determine who sits in the Senate. And the House (of Representatives) determines who sits in the House. So there's clearly legal authority for us to do whatever we want to do. This goes back for generations." Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," Reid said he plans to meet on Wednesday with Blagojevich's choice for the...

Days before Gov. Blagojevich was charged with trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder, top Senate Democrat Harry Reid made it clear who he didn’t want in the post: Jesse Jackson, Jr., Danny Davis or Emil Jones. Rather, Reid called Blagojevich to argue he appoint either state Veterans Affairs chief Tammy Duckworth or Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) announced Friday that he will pair an unemployment insurance extension with aid to the auto industry in lieu of a larger economic stimulus package. In a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), Sen. Reid cited a lack of Republican support for a broad economic stimulus. Democrats have previously expressed interest in passing a bill that included billions of dollars in new spending for items such as road and bridge construction, aid to states and food assistance for low-income families, but it appears that will have to wait...

Puke. Unscrupulous borrower Chris Dodd and Dingy Harry Reid are holding a blame-McCain press conference. After stomping his feet up and down and baiting McCain to take a position on the bailout, Reid is now lambasting McCain for going to Washington and getting involved. Thank God for the House Republicans. Call yours up and thank them today and urge them to keep looking out for us.

Harry Reid (D-NV) thinking the public and Senate are both distracted by the Paulson plan to bailout Wall Street intends to sneak the drilling ban back in the continuing resolution. He is doing it right now.

Reid to McCain: Don't Come Back to Capitol September 24, 2008 5:14 PM A Democrat tells ABC News that, in a phone call late this afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that it would NOT be helpful for him to come back to Washington, D.C., to work on the Wall Street bailout bill. McCain this afternoon suspended his campaign and said he would skip the first presidential debate in order to return to Capitol Hill to work on the log-jammed Bush administration legislation, which, as of Wednesday afternoon, was in peril. McCain had phoned...

CNN: Harry Reid releases statement, attacking Palin's speech as "shrill".. The talking heads are somewhat aghast, noting the sexist implications of the term "shrill"..

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was not happy with Sen. Joe Lieberman’s speech before the Republican National Convention Tuesday night.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., defended Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman on Wednesday after the former Democratic vice presidential nominee accepted a speaking slot at next month's Republican convention in Minnesota. "He has a close personal relationship with John McCain. I don't fully understand why he does," said Reid, who said Lieberman called Tuesday from the Republic of Georgia to alert him to the move. "I told him last night, 'You know, Joe, I can't stand John McCain.' He said, 'I know you feel that way,' " Reid said. But Reid said he would continue to resist calls from the...