Harry Reid Blocks Vote on Obama Plan to Avert Fiscal Cliff

On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) turned down an opportunity to allow the Senate to vote on President Barack Obama’s proposal to avert the fiscal cliff,  proving that Obama’s plan is so unreasonable that Senate Democrats do not even want to vote for it.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) offered an amendment to a Russian trade bill that was being considered to force a vote on Obama’s “ridiculous” plan.

“Last week [Treasury] Secretary [Timothy] Geithner brought up a proposal that was so unserious,” McConnell said. “I would like to see if my Democratic friends would like to support it.”

Reid objected and said McConnell was engaging in political “stunts.”

McConnell pointed out that Obama’s plan, which calls for $1.6 trillion in tax increases and gives Obama the power to raise the debt ceiling without Congress’s approval, was a non-starter, and that is why Democrats do not even want to have a stand-alone vote on the proposal. 

“Not a single Senate Democrat has stepped forward to support it, and if you look at it you can see why,” McConnell said. “It increases taxes.”