As Deficit Soars, Reid Targets Prostitution

While most of the nation is consumed with our fiscal crisis, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada is focused on a different issue: prostitution. In his biennial address to Nevada’s legislature, Reid gave an impassioned speech to outlaw prostitution, Politico reports.

Listeners weren’t impressed. At one of the few times Reid paused during a 30-minute speech, no one clapped.

Even his own party members can’t understand what he’s doing. Prostitution isn’t an issue of concern for the state legislature now, says Reno Democratic State Sen. Sheila Leslie. “We are consumed by the budget and its implications for our state,” she said. Some of Reid’s constituents probably wish he was consumed by the budget too.

Both Democratic and Republican state legislators generally see the legality of prostitution as a local issue.