Senate Democrats are not only going to strip the "defund Obamacare" rider from the CR but many of them including Conservative Democrats as well as the influential Chuck Schumer are PUSHING Reid to increase the amount in the CR as well.
http://thehill.com/...
Liberal House Democrats are balking at the CR level that is coming from the House Bill regardless of whether it has the "defunding Obamacare" rider. Steny Hoyer and the progressive House Democrats are just saying NO.
Well Senate Democrats are now pushing Senator Reid to INCREASE the amount in the CR as well as get rid of the offending rider.
Senate Democrats are urging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to be aggressive in the standoff over a government shutdown with House Republicans.
They say Reid should counter the House Republican government funding bill by not only stripping language defunding ObamaCare, but by increasing funding for the rest of the government.
Not only liberal Senate Democrats are pushing this but conservative Democrats such as Senator Warner and the influential Senator Chuck Schumer.
“We’re going to try to get as high a CR level as we can get,” said Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), the third-ranking member of the Democratic caucus, referring to the stop-gap spending measure. “We are not going to be held hostage.
“We think it should be higher than the $988 [billion] level, absolutely. But we’re not going to have a negotiation that deals with extraneous issues,” he added. “We’re going to negotiate to get as a high a level as possible.”
Can Senate Democrats do this without Republican votes?
Senate Democratic sources say Reid could increase the funding level in the House-passed resolution by using the same floor procedure he’s expected to use to remove language defunding ObamaCare.
“He can also change the numbers,” said a Senate Democratic strategist.
Senators and aides say Reid will manage the House resolution in such a way to allow Democrats to revise it with a simple majority vote.
A Republican Senator did point out that in January the Sequester is scheduled to go in affect any ways at the lower level so it would just be a 3 month affect. But it has been pointed out by several Democrats that the lower level of the sequester that is suppose to start January 2014 is lower because Defense will have to be cut by $20 billion but the nondefense portion is scheduled to be INCREASED by $1 billion. Thus there is incentive for "Defense Republicans" ie Senator McCain, Congressman Buck McCeon, etc to do a deal.