Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) on Monday accused GOP leaders in the House of Representatives of trying to run government with a "banana Republican mindset" after they attempted to use a short-term spending resolution to delay President Barack Obama's signature health care reform law.
After the Senate rejected the House's proposal to delay Obamacare for a year along a party line vote, Reid held a press conference calling on Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) to allow a vote on a clean continuing resolution.
"As we said Friday -- nothing's changed -- they try to send us something back, they're spinning their wheels," Reid explained. "We are not going to change Obamacare. They want any changes in Obamacare, wait until after the debt ceiling, wait until they're willing to sit down and do a budget for us, with us and approach this in a reasonable manner."
"I have a very simple message to John Boehner: Let the House vote," he added. "If John Boehner blocks this, he will be forcing a government shutdown. And it will be a Republican government shutdown. That's pure and simple."
Over the weekend, House Republican Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) hinted that he was open to a short-term funding extension to allow lawmakers a few more days to negotiate, but Reid was clearly against the idea.
"The Senate bill is a short-term extension, it's what it is," Reid said. "This is a six-week funding bill, it's all it is. Six weeks."
"If we can't pass this we are truly entering a banana Republican mindset. This is what we look at other countries doing. The United States? We're going to funding the government for a week, ten days at a time? Not so good."
