Senate Procedures: Is Boehner stalling his House bill to prevent a Senate vote on it tonight?

[ProgressiveEconomist]

Dana Milbank (Washington Post) suggested this on MSNBC tonight, along with the more likely reason for delay: falling a few votes short of the 216 needed tonight.

Harry Reid promised that if the Boehner bill passed the House tonight, the Senate would take it up and vote immediately to "table" it, without debate. After the Senate defeats the Boehner bill, Reid would bring his own bill, which prevents repetition of debt ceiling votes before 2013.

Do you but Milbank's suggestion? Would preventing a Senate vote-down of the Boehner bill tonight help Boehner and McConnell run out the clock and keep the Reid bill from the Senate floor?

Wouldn't it be easier for Senate Republicans just to filibuster the Reid bill, the way they have filibustered most everything else since Obama was inaugurated?

WHAT'S YOUR OPINION?

[Blue Meany]

1. I'm sure they both want to have their bill as the last one standing

just before the deadline, but it sounds like Boehner just doesn't have the votes to pass it, so he needs time to twist arms and offer bribes.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

4. 'Boehner just doesn't have the votes" IMO that must have been true at 6:15 tonight,

ehen they missed a vote deadline they had set this morning. I thought their schedule was qute clever--the House vote would have been the NEWEST "braking news" for all the network nightlies, and the Senate vote would have been the OLDEST "news" for tomorrow's nightlies!

But, having missed the 6:15 timeslot and then having rounded up the last few votes, it just might have occurred to their strategists that an even longer delay might be preferable to--say--an 8pm vote.

[AlinPA]

2. Either 1. To keep the senators up late (just cheap petty politics) as they vote down the House

Bill, or 2. To run out the clock to default. IMO, the latter is more likely.

[Angry Dragon]

3. If the House bill gets defeated in the Senate and then the

republicans filibuster the Senate bell, the only bill out there at the time, then the republicans will look like they do not care if the country defaults or not. That is a loser position.

These people are just children and they just do not want to play unless they get to set the rules...........

[Pab Sungenis]

5. I think the debt limit vote can't be filibustered

either that or the Republicans know that being seen to filibuster that bill would expose the fact that they want to force a default.

[AlinPA]

6. Rand Paul and Jim deMint don't care. They made a pledge.

[karynnj]

7. Not sure they can filibuster the discussion of the Reid bill

because it would be brought in as an amendment (to replace in full) to the Boehner bill. I assume they would then filibuster it before allowing it to come to a vote.