On the recordJuly 30, 2011
This Republican ploy is too clever by half. At the very same time Republican Senators are filibustering against bringing up this proposal in the Senate, the House Republicans are insisting on bringing it up here so they can vote it down. While it is imperfect and imbalanced, this Reid proposal protects educational opportunities for college students, it protects retirement security through Medicare and Social Security, and it provides more important resources for public services than the reactionary House Republican budget. With House Republicans still at fault for refusing to seek any type of middle ground, the Reid bill is the least worst alternative to avoid default. As desperate as they were last night to cobble together a handful of votes to pass a partisan Boehner bill, they are even more desperate to defeat this reasonable middle ground because they insist it must have two-thirds of the votes of this body. Let us join Democrats in unity to approve this proposal.
