McConnell and Reid offer finger-pointing updates as fiscal cliff looms

With five days to go, Kentucky’s senior U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell said Thursday that leaders “might finally start talking” again about a deal to avert going over the fiscal cliff of federal tax increases and automatic spending cuts.

McConnell, who received a phone call late Wednesday from President Barack Obama, blamed Democrats for dragging their feet on what he called serious negotiations.

“Republicans bent over backwards. We stepped way out of our comfort zone — we wanted an agreement. But we had no takers,” said McConnell, the Senate minority leader. “The phone never rang. And so now here we are five days from the New Year, and we might finally start talking.”

And U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, returned the rhetorical favor, pointing his finger at Republicans, particularly House Speaker John Boehner.

Reid said Boehner’s “number one goal is to get elected speaker on Jan. 3.” And he called Boehner’s failed attempt to pass a “Plan B” through the House as the “mother of all debacles.”