In the wake of last week’s vote by the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives to continue funding federal government operations for the rest of the 2011 fiscal year, while making the largest single discretionary spending cut in the history of the nation, U.S. Senate Democrat Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) gave his pronouncement today on how much Senate Democrats would be willing to cut federal spending and the answer is – nothing.

Senator Reid announced today that instead of considering the spending cuts passed by the House, he will instead introduce another short-term continuing resolution (CR) that would lock in the status quo spending levels which increased 24 percent over the past two years

Following Senator Reid’s announcement today, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) called on U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) to tell the people of Michigan whether she intends to stand with her liberal party leaders in opposing cuts to federal spending or whether she will ask them to consider the House-passed CR, which includes roughly $100 billion in spending cuts.

“Senator Stabenow has told Michigan voters time and again that she supports reining in government spending and forcing the federal government to operate more efficiently, yet under her watch the federal debt has grown by almost $8.3 trillion,” NRSC Press Secretary Chris Bond said today. “In light of her party leadership’s opposition to cutting federal spending, attention once again focuses on Debbie Stabenow. Will she once again toe the party line, stand with her liberal party leaders and support the status quo, which includes a 24 percent increase in federal spending over just the last two years? Or will she finally stand up for the Michigan families and small businesses who will be forced to pay for our massive federal debt?

“Last November, the American people spoke loud and clear: stop the Washington spending spree and bring down the debt. Senator Stabenow’s response to Senator Reid’s statement today will make it very clear whether or not she understands that message. We look forward to hearing what she has to say,” Bond concluded.