Harry Reid yanks Libya resolution
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid cancelled a vote on a Libya resolution Tuesday, following a torrent of criticism from Senate Republicans who say they are in town to talk about debt, not foreign policy.
Reid said he decided against holding the procedural vote after meeting with Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
“We’ve agreed, notwithstanding the broad support for the Libya resolution, the most important thing for [us to] focus on this week is the budget,” Reid said.
Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz.), who coauthored the resolution with Sen. John Kerry (D-Ma.)said on the Senate floor he understands the need to focus on debt, but questioned tabling foreign policy.
“However, I would point out that the Senate does need to have a debate about U.S. military action and policy in Libya,” McCain said.
He added that meetings are in motion on the debt limit, and said he was “confident” the White House was involved in these discussions, although there was no confirmation yet of a meeting between the administration and Senate Democrats – an invitation Reid extended last week.
Republicans had latched onto the planned vote, pointing out that Reid had cancelled this week’s scheduled Senate recess to focus on the ongoing deficit negotiations — not foreign policy.
“We have been called back in because there is a budget crisis in this country, because we have a debt ceiling of over $14 trillion that is getting ready to be hit, and we need to focus on that and that alone during this week,” said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas)
Freshman Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) had blocked Reid’s first attempt to open debate on the Libya resolution last week, forcing the majority leader to schedule today’s Libya vote.
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http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/58354.html#ixzz1RH576fxLDemocrats = imperialist, warmongering, hypocritical trash. In other news, the sky is blue and grass is green.