7/30/2011

Democrats in Senate Filibuster their own Debt bill

After quickly moving to kill the House Republican debt ceiling bill, Senate Democrats are refusing to have a vote on their own bill. Twice now the Senate Democrats have rejected House Republican proposals, but have yet to vote on their own plan. This is the first time that Democrats have put up a plan of their own, but they want to wait to vote because they know that the Senate will also vote down the Democrat plan. From Stephen Dinan at the Washington Times' Inside Politics page:

Senate Republicans want a 60-vote threshold for a debt-limit bill to pass the chamber, but it's actually Democrats who are enforcing the filibuster on their own legislation, insisting on delaying a vote until 1 a.m. Sunday morning.

Republicans offered to let the vote happen Friday night, just minutes after the chamber voted to halt a House Republican bill. All sides expect Democrats' bill will fail too, and the GOP said senators might as well kill both at the same time so that negotiations could move on to a compromise.

"We would be happy to have that vote tonight," Sen. Mitch McConnell, Republicans' leader, offered.

But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid objected, even though the vote would occur on his own bill. He instead said the chamber would have to run out the full procedural clock, which means a vote in the early hours Sunday morning. . . .

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