Surprise, surprise. Harry Reid has punked out, and wished the Medicare Slashing Duo of Obama and Boehner luck in reaching a compromise.
Earlier reports had indicated Reid was prepared to file cloture on his compromise plan with McConnell.
Nope. The latest passive-aggressive maneuver below the fold.
This headline should comfort no one to the left of Eric Cantor:
Reid steps back as Obama, Boehner work toward debt-limit compromise
It’s official: Harry Reid is no longer part of the inner dealmaking circle — that club now exclusively belongs to President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner (and Eric Cantor too).
“The Speaker and President have been working diligently together,” Reid said this morning, as he announced he’d no longer be keeping the Senate in session over the weekend, because the plan he thought they had to push — a deal he’d worked out with the Republican Leader Mitch McConnell over the last week — was off, in favor of a grand compromise being ironed out between Obama and Boehner. “We in the Senate must wait for them.” . . .
“We’re doing our very best to keep a sense, on top of what’s going on,” Reid explained, adding “a lot of what’s going on, we don’t know. I haven’t been in the day-to-day negotiations.
“All I can say ... is as sincerely as I can, I wish them well. It’s sincerely important that we address the debt limit.”
How grand.
Parting question: Is the following satire or reality:
White House officials have privately told Hill Democrats that this is “the transformational moment” for Obama, and an agreement with Boehner and McConnell would send a clear signal that he is changing the way politics is done in Washington.
Hint.