Reid: Senate Will Vote on Ryan Plan

Sam Stein at Huffington Post reports:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced on Wednesday that he would host a vote on Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) budget as a means of forcing moderate GOP senators to weigh in on the legislation’s controversial proposals. He did not provide a specific date for when that vote will take place.

“There will be an opportunity in the Senate to vote on the Ryan budget to see if Republican senators like the Ryan budget as much as the House did, ” Reid said on a conference call with reporters. “Without going into the Ryan budget we will see how much the Republicans like it here in the Senate.”

Reid, who had been traveling with other senator’s in China, accused the Ryan plan of fundamentally changing Medicare and burdening health care consumers with uncertainty and higher costs. By holding a vote on the bill -- which his own party will vote against en masse –- the majority leader is hoping to not only drive a wedge within the GOP but keep the Ryan budget in the news.

This past week, protesters have disrupted a number of town hall events hosted by GOP lawmakers, airing their concerns about drastic spending cuts, lower tax rates and changes to Medicare and Medicaid. House Republicans voted to pass the Ryan budget with only three defections.