Nevada’s congressional delegates torn over debt-ceiling vote

Photo by Harry Hamburg/AP

Harry Reid, Senate Democrat: YES

The Senate majority leader offered three proposals and was operating at the center of negotiations right up until the final days, when President Barack Obama took charge of the Democrats’ position in direct talks with Republicans. Still, Reid left his mark on the legislation.

The joint committee that is going to decide most of the country’s long-term spending and taxation was his idea, and Reid was the first to start negotiating with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell as a voice separate from House Speaker John Boehner; it would eventually be McConnell who emerged as the Republican at the center of the negotiations with the president, and the one who would strike the final deal.

Reid was also the first to announce and endorse a deal Sunday night, and has been selling the product to his party since.

“It’s the essence of compromise,” Reid said of the legislation Monday. “The solution cuts the deficit now, lays the groundwork for Congress to do much better work in the months ahead, and clears the way for us to look up at the bright sunshine and get rid of the clouds of default that have been hanging over our country for far too long.”

Joe Heck, House Republican: YES

The freshman congressman was hedging his bets on this bill for a long time, pledging and repledging to uphold the principle of “cut, cap and balance” but always leaving a door open that he’d look at anything the Senate sent over to him, provided it had dollar-for-dollar cuts, and didn’t raise taxes.

He has deemed the deal satisfactory.

“We have dollar-for-dollar cuts, no new taxes, and accountability ... Those are the three things I wanted to see, and those three things are there,” Heck said. “I don’t know how anybody would want to see our nation default, have its credit rating degraded, and increase the cost of lending to their people back home.”

Photo by Mona Shield Payne/Special to the Sun

Shelley Berkley, House Democrat: YES

Berkley had wanted to vote for a deal, and in the end she did. But it seemed to be a difficult 20 hours between the time Senate leaders announced the compromise, and when she took her vote. She kept her thoughts private, and held her cards close until just moments before voting.

The Democrats were as split as split can be on this bill, dividing straight down the middle — 95 voted for it, 95 against. While Berkley went freely to the “yes” column, she didn’t seem to be enjoying the ride.

The usually gregarious, loquacious and plain-speaking Berkley normally goes out of her way to make herself accessible to the media — certainly more than any other member of the Nevada delegation — but on Monday she was notably reserved, directing reporters to her statement after the vote.

“This bipartisan agreement is far from perfect, but it cuts our nation’s debt by trillions, while safeguarding Social Security, Medicare and VA beneficiaries,” Berkley said. “It’s time for us to move forward and focus on getting our economy back on track and on creating jobs for the people of Nevada and our nation.”

One can only imagine the source of her consternation might have something to do with her upcoming Senate race against Sen. Dean Heller, which makes its first real shift into full gear once the two return to Nevada this month.

On the plus side, passing the compromise is going to let the country avoid default, and the Nevada veterans, Social Security recipients, and Medicare recipients she is ever mindful of in all her political doings will stay afloat in this deal, because the president and Democratic leaders successfully spared them the chop.

But Heller hasn’t registered his opinion on this bill yet. And in Nevada, defaults be darned — there are other Republicans who are already hammering home the purported evils of voting to raise the debt ceiling on the campaign trail.

Photo by Steve Marcus

Dean Heller, Senate Republican: NO

Heller had been making space for himself to vote no on the deal, saying weeks ago that he would only back a deal that had a long-term plan for fiscal restraint -- and he defined long-term fiscal restraint as a constitutional balanced-budget amendment.

He cited that and the lack of tax reform in casting his “no” vote.

“An effective plan would provide significant savings, institute tax reform, create jobs and outline a sustainable approach for reducing our nation’s debt,” Heller said in a statement. “This deal falls short of providing a clear path to reaching these goals.”

While Heller added in an interview that he was glad the debt ceiling had been raised, he also said the crisis was a “sideshow” because it didn’t do enough about jobs.