Reid debt plan fails in Senate vote

In a test vote Sunday, the U.S. Senate blocked Majority Leader Harry Reid's package to raise the debt ceiling and avert national default. Meanwhile, negotiations went on. Reid, D-Nev., was expected to meet with the Democratic caucus after the vote, and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, was expected to hold a conference call with his members, The New York Times reported. Reid's proposal, which would cut trillions from the federal budget without tax increases, was favored by a 50-49 vote, far short of the 60 needed to end debate and move the measure. All Republicans voted no except Scott Brown of Massachusetts. All Democrats voted yes except the two most conservative, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Ben Nelson of Nebraska, the report said. But independent Bernard Sanders of Vermont, reflecting growing anger on the left with Obama administration compromises, also voted no and then tried to block Reid's move to hold another vote later in the day. Earlier Sunday, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on CNN's "State of the Union" he was "very, very close to being able ... to recommend to my members that this is something that they ought to support." McConnell said the deal might not include any tax increases, something the majority Democrats had been insisting on as a means of chipping away at the budget deficit rather than relying solely on cuts to social programs. "Today is obviously a critical day," presidential adviser David Plouffe told NBC's "Meet the Press" as Wall Street powers warned of a stock market shock as soon as Monday if major progress is not made Sunday. Plouffe again dismissed speculation that President Barack Obama would invoke the 14th Amendment to force payment of debts if Congress fails to lift the ceiling by Tuesday. The Senate plan would raise the country's $14.3 trillion debt limit by up to $2.4 trillion in two stages -- $1 trillion now, matched by cuts, and the rest in 2012 unless two-thirds of both houses disapprove, The Washington Post said. Without steering legislation, the United States will be unable to meet most of its financial obligations after Tuesday, The New York Times said. McConnell said his package includes a vote on a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution before raising the debt ceiling but no requirement that it pass, as in the House Republican proposal. Sen. John Thune, R-S,D., said on "Meet the Press": "This is probably going to be as good of an outcome as we can get, and most of us are going to have to accept things that we don't like in the final product." Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said: "Let's get away from the situation where the people who have power in Washington don't have to pay any taxes."