LAS VEGAS -- Tough decisions await in the halls of Congress. A projected deficit of $1.5 trillion means that spending cuts are inevitable. But what should be cut?
One man who will have a say in every dollar that is spent, or cut, is Nevada Senator Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, who appears ready to mix it up, not only with Republicans but with the president.
Reid seems like a different person from the guy we saw during the knock-down, drag-out campaign last year. It would be inaccurate to say he is spoiling for a fight, but he certainly isn't going to avoid confrontation either.
"It's like the beginning of baseball season. I'm anxious to see how many singles I can get," he said.
It isn't often that baseball analogies are used for Reid. It's more common to invoke boxing terms, since the feisty majority leader is a former boxer and his pugilistic instincts are very much in evidence on Capital Hill. Simply put, a rejuvenated Reid seems ready to rumble.
Since President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech, Reid has said he will preside over a more civil Congress, but that doesn't mean backing down on issues. His press office is the most active in Congress, churning out daily stories accusing Republicans of wanting to gut Medicare, Social Security, and more.
Reid no longer has 60 votes in the Senate, and the House went Republican, but he sees the silver lining -- the Republicans now have an ownership stake in what gets done.
"There was tremendous pressure on me. Really, there's not much pressure now. If we are going to get something done, it has to be done on a bipartisan basis," he said.
Reid survived a bruising re-election campaign and seems invigorated now that Congress is back in action. Republicans admit they will come after him. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor says the strategy is to paint Reid as a "cul-de-sac Senator," representing the place where Republican reforms go to die. Reid laughs about it, and admits it.
"I will tell you, I've been called a lot worse than a cul de sac. House Republicans are just getting their sea legs. They are really rambunctious. They will pass things and send it over. That's the way its been done through the history of our country. The house will produce stuff and it will come over here and die, most of it," he said.
Like a repeal of health care reform. Reid is willing to tinker with the bill but says repeal will happen over his dead body. He supports the president's call for a spending freeze, but says he will oppose drastic cuts to domestic spending because there is not enough money there to make a big difference to the deficit.
In his inner office, flanked by portraits of his heroes Mark Twain and Andrew Jackson, Reid strategizes about how to preserve things like FDA food safety inspections and law enforcement budgets.
"What are we going to do about border security, which everyone talks about? What about the FBI, the people who check for safety on airplanes? Cut all those back? Let's be realistic, we're going to have to cut where it can be done," he said.
Few in Washington have this lofty vantage point, literally and figuratively. In Reid's view, the most obvious place to make meaningful cuts is the Pentagon budget -- defense spending.
On one point, he diametrically opposes the president's stance on earmarks. Reid says stopping earmarks by Congress doesn't cut the deficit. It merely changes who makes the decision where the money is spent.
He is not shy about his reputation as one who brings federal dollars to his home state.
"I'm pretty good at earmarks because that's my job. I believe in the Constitution. I carry a copy right here in my pocket. I have an obligation to do Congressionally-directed spending. I criticized publicly, and will continue to do so, President Obama, who wants to take away our ability to do Congressionally-directed spending. He doesn't know Nevada like I do. These bureaucrats back here in D.C. with their green eye shades don't know what we need in Nevada. I do. I have an obligation," he said.
