Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is open to allowing a vote on a balanced budget amendment as long as the GOP compromises on taking a debt default off the table through 2012,
Roll Call reports.
“If people want a vote on that, fine,” Reid said of the balanced budget amendment Friday.
Yet it's clear that the House's plan of a short-term debt increase and the requirement for the actual passage of an amendment to the Constitution — not just a vote — are likely to kill any deal, Democrats said.
“It’s really time they legislate,” Reid said.
Charles Schumer said the GOP bill would “guarantee” a default because it is unlikely to pass the Senate, and Majority Whip Dick Durbin accused Republicans of turning the Constitution into a “bargaining chip.”
Reid, meanwhile, repeated his call on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to meet with him and help find a solution later today.
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