Sen. Harry Reid will force Republicans to vote repeatedly against Wall Street reform to put pressure GOP centrists.
A senior Democratic aide said Reid would schedule votes to end a Republican filibuster of the reform bill on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.
“We need to keep the pressure up to get a deal,” said the Democratic aide.
Reid held a live quorum call on Monday evening to bring senators to the floor, interrupting their schedules and sending a message to lawmakers who voted to block debate of Wall Street reform.
Thirty-nine Republicans and Sen. Ben Nelson, a conservative Democrat from Nebraska, voted against a motion to begin debate.
Reid also voted against the motion because of a procedural technicality that will allow him to bring up for reconsideration.
Democratic aides said Reid would call senators to reconsider the motion to begin debate of the reform bill on Tuesday.
Seems like a good plan, but what happens if by Wednesday you've not cracked anyone on the GOP side...oh, and Ben Nelson, who's throwing a hissy fit over derivatives and his Omaha buddy Warren Buffett?
This is a good Plan B, but it's going to require a Plan C as well. What happens when this fails too? Call me a pessimist, but after Senate Republicans voting no on everything moderately important to Obama, I simply just don't buy this whole "70 yes votes by Memorial Day" crap.
What I do see happening is Harry Reid dropping both the bank funded emergency fund as well as all of Blanche Lincoln's derivatives stuff, and Mitch McConnell then saying "This bill still needs to go back to the drawing board. We will filibuster it until we get what the American people need. We've proven we can."
So again, what's Harry Reid's Plan C to get this bill passed? Hoping to get the Republicans to come around sure isn't much of one. Because right now I still do not see this bill passing the Senate without being heavily neutered...if at all.
Plan C, whatever it is, better involve some pretty ruthless and brutal attacks on the GOP for blocking debate on the bill. Otherwise, the GOP will simply continue to block it like they will everything else. What price are you going to make them pay, Harry?
Plan C, whatever it is, better involve some pretty ruthless and brutal attacks on the GOP for blocking debate on the bill. Otherwise, the GOP will simply continue to block it like they will everything else. What price are you going to make them pay, Harry?
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