Reid doubts Boehner really wants a deal

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he’s grown skeptical whether Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) really wants a deal to avoid a government shutdown.
 
When asked Thursday afternoon if he is questioning whether Boehner wants a deal, Reid said: “Yes, I am.”
 
Reid cited a recent report that Boehner received a standing ovation when he told House GOP colleagues Monday evening that he had advised the House Administration Committee to prepare for a shutdown.
 
{mosads}“Speaker Boehner talked about the government being shut down, he got a standing ovation,” Reid told reporters at a press conference. He said Tea Party-affiliated lawmakers and activists have “cheered” for a shutdown.
 
Reid said he had been reasonably optimistic of reaching a deal on spending levels for the rest of fiscal year 2011, but learned this morning that Republicans balked over controversial policy riders defunding Planned Parenthood and Environmental Protection Agency regulations.
 
“Republicans during the last 10 hours, 11 hours, have changed their tune completely, they did it overnight,” he said. “They’ve made the decision to shut down the government because they want to make it harder for … a woman to get a cancer screening?”