Just how pathetic is Mitch McConnell‘s ‘Pontius Pilate Pass the Buck Act of 2011,’ his proposal to let the President automatically raise the debt ceiling by $2 trillion without any cuts so long as the GOP doesn’t get blamed?

Harry Reid is intervening to make it more palatable to Republicans.

Publicly, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) left the door open to the idea. “I’m willing to look at this,” he told reporters. Privately, Reid has consulted with McConnell about making the proposal more palatable to reluctant Republicans by creating a joint committee to draft an enforceable debt-reduction plan, according to senior sources in both parties.

One Republican I spoke to said McConnell did serious damage to himself yesterday and lost a great deal of respect from a number of his Republican Senate colleagues. I can see why. When Harry Reid is trying to make a Republican leader’s proposal more Republican, that leader has lost his way.