Harry Reid: Republicans Want Economy To Tank So Democrats Will Be Battered In Midterms

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said on Wednesday that Republicans want the economy to tank and hope jobs legislation fails so that Democrats will lose the midterm elections.

"They're betting on failure," Reid said of Republicans at a press conference Wednesday focused on measures to help small businesses. "They think that the worse the economy is come November, the better they are going to do election-wise."

Reid says the Republican approach "was indicated very loudly in the health care bill when one Republican Senator said that he wanted this to be Obama's Waterloo -- another Senator said he hoped somebody died during the night so that we couldn't get our 60 votes."

Whether the small business jobs bill passes is in the hands of the Republican party, said Reid, and so far negotiations have been strained.

"We are not getting a lot of cooperation," said Reid. "I had a conversation on the floor this morning with Senator McConnell and I hope they are willing to support us. The initial amendments they've got have nothing to do with small business."