Reid presses for budget talks after shutdown’s end

J. Scott Applewhite / AP

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, right, accompanied by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., announces to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013, that President Barack Obama has invited the top leaders in Congress to meet with him at the White House to seek a solution to the government shutdown crisis.

By Andrew Taylor, Associated Press

Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013 | 10:50 a.m.

WASHINGTON — Top Senate Democrat Harry Reid is offering budget talks to House Republicans if they allow the government to reopen.

Reid made the offer to House Speaker John Boehner in a letter Wednesday and in a phone call. Boehner dismissed the idea.

Reid, a Nevada Democrat, proposed that talks occur on a nonbinding measure known as a budget resolution that could serve as a template for follow-up legislation on the budget. Republicans are pressing for high-level negotiations on a normally routine temporary spending bill to keep the government running into November or December, seeking concessions on "Obamacare."

Democrats have been pressing for official negotiations on the budget resolution for some time, but Republicans have resisted, saying they won't give any ground on taxes.