Mega-jackass.
WASHINGTON — An exasperated Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid urged Republicans to “calm down” Thursday after they tried to offer an amendment to a transportation bill aimed at countering birth control regulations under the health care law.
An Obama administration rule to require most employers — including those affiliated with, but not directly promoting, religion — to include contraception in their health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act has sparked heated responses from conservatives.
Senate Republicans on Thursday attempted to block the rule before it even took effect by amending the long-negotiated $109 billion transportation bill that the Senate had voted 85 to 11 to start debating.
Reid took umbrage.
“Here is a bipartisan bill to create and save jobs,” the Democrat from Nevada said, noting it had required the input of four different committees. “Every state in the union is desperate for these dollars. But to show how the Republicans never lose an opportunity to mess up a good piece of legislation, listen to this: They’re talking about First Amendment rights, the Constitution.