Harry Reid's getting the fight he always wanted
http://www.nationaljournal.com/congress/harry-reid-s-getting-the-fight-he-always-wanted-20131007?mrefid=LeadStoryTiles_medium
The episode marked a sharp contrast from the last budget showdown, in December 2012, when Vice President Joe Biden went behind Reid's back to cut a deal with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Reid was so incensed by the administration's concessions during those talks that he crumpled up one White House offer and tossed it into his office's roaring fireplace in disgust.
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Cruz and allied conservatives in the House may have brought about the shutdown by insisting on dismantling or defunding Obama's signature health care law, but Reid is firm about making them pay for it.
Reid has called Republicans "anarchists" and "reckless"; he's said they've "lost their minds" and need to "get a life"; and his office has leaked private emails with House Speaker John Boehner's chief of staff. With polling showing Republicans likely to receive the bulk of public blame for the shutdown, he's refused any concessions conditioned on reopening the government.
"The thing about Harry Reid is he looks like the benign old man who runs the general store. But he is a pile driver," said David Axelrod, a former top White House strategist for Obama. "When he commits to doing something, he does it.... You come to appreciate someone like that and having someone like that on your side."
Reid has been bringing it for well over a year now. Remember the hatchet he took to Mitt Romney?
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