Wow. Anyone watching the live coverage of the floor debate between Reid and McConnell right now?? I'll live transcribe below the fold.
From CNN's live coverage, transcribed with gracious cooperation by my DVR:
REID: ...talks with the President, and announce that a bargain to raise the debt savings [sic] is close. Mr. President, members of the Senate, that's not true. I just spent two hours with the President, Vice President and Leader Pelosi and it's fair for me to say that the engagement there is not in any meaningful way. Republican leaders still refuse to negotiate in good faith. Revenue is off the calendar - no way we can talk about revenue. Entitlements? Oh, they're after entitlements. Medicare, Social Security. The Speaker and Republican Leader should know that merely saying you have an agreement in front of a few television cameras doesn't make it so. The Republican Leader at the press event says he's engaged. Fortunately, members of his caucus are - at least as far as I'm concerned and my members - are more engaged than he is. There are meaningful talks going on with some of his members and my Senators. While the Republican Leader is holding meaningless press conferences, his members are reaching out to me, and other members as I've just indicated. They're coming forward with thoughtful ideas to try to move the process forward. I welcome their ideas, and ask all members to continue these discussions. America is watching us, and they're demanding a result that's balanced. I say to my friend, and he is my friend, the Republican Leader - I'll come to his office, I will go to the White House with him, I will do anything that I can do to try to move this process forward. As respectfully as I can to my friend, the senior Senator from Kentucky, the process has not been moved forward during this day.
My emphasis added. Posting - there's MUCH more, including McConnell's response and then Reid's response. I'll transcribe momentarily.
MCCONNELL: Mr. President [Schumer: "The Minority Leader. The Republican Leader]. Mr President, the fact of the matter is that the only way we're going to get an agreement before Tuesday is to have an agreement with the President of the United States. The only person in America of the 307 million of us who can sign something into law. And I'm more optimistic than my friend the Majority Leader. We've both talked to the President today, talked to the Vice President several times. I think we've got a chance of getting there. What I think is not helpful is the process we're going through here on the Senate floor, having show votes over live quorums, having reluctance on the part of the Majority to have a vote on a measure they favor, which we've been prepared to vote on since last night. Look - we need to be in a position where all of us in the leadership can come back here and say that we think we've reached a framework of an agreement that we can recommend to our members and be briefing our members. And the sooner we can do that, the sooner we can reassure the American people that we're going to get a result on a bipartisan basis. And so that's what I'm working on. And I'm not interested in scoring any political points. I'm interested in getting an outcome for the American people. And the only way that can be done is with the President of the United States. And we're going to continue to work on that, get this problem solved, and let the country know that we're not going to default for the first time in our history. That's how I'm going to spend my time until we get that outcome that I can come up here and recommend to my colleagues.
So... he IS talking with POTUS and the Veep but he's... not? I'm confused.
REID: [Schumer: The Majority Leader] We are here today, right now, for this reason: it's spelled F-I-L-I-B-U-S-T-E-R. Filibuster. There is [sic] delaying tactics proceeding right now. They won't allow us to have a vote - up or down vote on our amendment, and this is a filibuster. By any other term, it's a filibuster. That's why we're here. I hope the negotiations go on. We're willing to be as fair as we can, but there has to be something that the President and Vice President Biden and the rest of us think is a step in the right direction. I guess talking is a step in the right direction, but that's about it. So Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the matter we have before us, which is amendment number 589, we have an up or down vote on that, no - as we have all the time - and of course, there would be no points of order in effect, and we can do what we do here all the time. Have a vote on it right now.
Now McConnell's up again.
MCCONNELL: I reserve the right to object. These are direct quotes from my friend the Majority Leader. He says, "in the Senate it's always been the case you need 60 votes." Always been the case you need 60 votes. This is the Majority Leader of the United States Senate. For him to suggest that a matter of this magnitude, in a body that requires 60 votes for almost everything is going to be done with 51 votes makes no sense at all. I object.
Point of clarity: those weren't direct "quotes" from Reid; that was a single quote from Reid. More in a moment... Reid responds.
REID: It is - first of all, it is unconscionable that the Republicans would filibuster their national obligations. Frankly, it's unprecedented. Unprecedented. Since 1962, Congress has raised the debt limit 74 times, including 18 times under President Reagan, and there was never a threat of a filibuster and it was always by majority vote.
And it goes back to McConnell. It's like watching a tennis match.
MCCONNELL: Mr President, I might say I actually cut short a conversation with the Vice President for this important vote on a live quorum. I'd like to get back to work so we can hopefully solve this problem. And it seems to me, Mr. President, it would be a good idea for the Majority to decide to allow the vote on the proposal they say they're in favor of. Therefore, I would ask unanimous consent that the vote on the pending cloture motion occur at 6:30.
REID: I object.
SCHUMER: Objection is heard.
So McConnell wants to just go on ahead and vote - but not by majority. But let's vote and strike down the Reid bill (whatever that looks like right now).
REID: Mr. President, put lipstick on it, nice suit, even a skirt sometimes - it's still a filibuster.
And they go to roll call.
The only "big takeaway" I just got from that is that we are no closer right now than we were this morning to a deal. It's gonna be a wild ride, folks. You can speculate all you want - that's what I think I know right now.