Thune May Touch Off Further Senate GOP Maneuvering

Reid and Schumer Ask House GOP Leaders to Come to the Table

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Democratic Conference Vice Chairman Charles Schumer (N.Y.) urged House Republican leaders on Tuesday to stand up to far-right Members and negotiate long-term spending cuts to avoid a government shutdown.

The hard right of the party is "forcing the Speaker to reject any negotiation" on a continuing resolution that the House passed early Saturday morning, Schumer told reporters in an afternoon conference call with Reid. That measure would fund the government from March 4 to Sept. 30, the end of fiscal 2011.

Schumer, who is also chairman of the Democratic Policy and Communications Center, said he believed that Speaker John Boehner does not want the government to shut down as a result of an impasse between the two chambers but that the Ohio Republican is being "pushed around" by freshmen. 

Schumer and Reid's conference call was the latest in a war of words between House Republicans and Senate Democrats, who have both called on each other to "act like adults" about cutting spending.

Senate Democrats are pushing for a spending measure that does not include the dramatic cuts demanded by House Republicans, who in turn say that Democrats don't understand the seriousness of the nation's fiscal state.

"House Republicans and some Senate Democrats refuse to believe that we cannot find one penny in spending cuts," Boehner spokesman Michael Steel told Roll Call. "That is Sen. Reid and Sen. Schumer's position, and it is indefensible."

Boehner said Tuesday morning that if Reid rejects the House-passed continuing resolution, then another short-term bill that also cuts spending would need to be passed. The House-passed bill would cut spending by more than $100 billion below President Barack Obama's 2011 budget request.

Reid plans to bring a 30-day continuing resolution to the Senate floor next week to buy time for negotiations and avoid a government shutdown. The Senate and House return from the Presidents Day recess Feb. 28, and the continuing resolution that is currently keeping government agencies funded expires March 4.

Boehner reiterated Tuesday afternoon House GOP leaders' stance that a stopgap must include spending cuts.

"The House has passed legislation to keep the government running until October while cutting spending. If Senator Reid refuses to bring it to a vote, then the House will pass a short-term bill to keep the government running - one that also cuts spending," he said.

Reid said the bill that the House passed Saturday would be a non-starter in the Senate, in part because of its many riders, such as amendments that eliminate federal funding for Planned Parenthood and college grants.

"We believe that the hundreds of riders are strictly the worst kind of politics," Reid said.

"We want a few weeks to work this out," he added. "We realize the long-term CR is very important to this county."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Tuesday urged lawmakers from his home state of Nevada to make prostitution illegal, a move that would turn back decades of cultural and legal history.

"The time has come for us to outlaw prostitution," Reid said during remarks at the opening of Nevada's bi-annual legislative session.

Though Reid's comments occupied only a few paragraphs in an eight-page speech, they caused an immediate stir in Nevada, the only U.S. state where prostitution is legal.

Nevada allows legal brothels in counties with populations of less than 400,000, which doesn't include Clark County or Las Vegas. The state has been home to legal brothels since the early 70s, currently numbering two dozen.

"Nevada needs to be known as the first place for innovation and investment - not as the last place where prostitution is still legal," Reid said, adding that his concern about the issue was prompted by a visit by a technology firm to rural Storey County.

The company was considering locating its business there, Reid said, but one of the businessmen "simply couldn't believe that one of the biggest businesses in the county he was considering for his new home is legal prostitution."

At stake, Reid said, are "desperately-needed jobs" in a state that leads the nation in unemployment, foreclosure and bankruptcy rates.

"When the nation thinks about Nevada, it should think about the world's newest ideas and newest careers - not about its oldest profession," he said.

George Flint, representing the Nevada Brothel Owners Association, was in attendance during the speech, along with three brothel owners and 10 prostitutes.

Flint said he's only heard of one business in 25 years that cited legalized prostitution as a concern when considering locating to Nevada.

Pete Goicoechea, a rancher and Nevada Assembly Minority Leader, said legalized prostitution "pales in the face of the real issues facing the state."

Goicoechea represents portions of eight rural counties that are home to at least eight legal brothels. He has "never heard of companies having concerns" about the issue.

Not only that, he added, legal prostitutes "do provide a service. Anytime you have young working unmarried people, like in mining, it's a benefit."