Harry Reid is calling on Republicans to unilaterally disarm by giving up the threat of a government shutdown.

The Hill:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called on House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) Sunday to completely rule out shutting down the government over disagreements on spending.

Republicans have stressed that they do not want to shut down the government. "Our goal here is to reduce spending. Our goal is not to shut down the government," Boehner said in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday.

But Democrats have continued to hammer away at the issue Sunday, continuing to raise the possibility of a shut down.

"Speaker Boehner said his goal is to not shut down the government," Reid said in a statement Sunday. "If he is serious about that, he should completely take a shutdown off the table and tell other Republicans to stop with the threats."

Reid said a government shut down would have wide-ranging effects on the American people.

"Families across the country are struggling and they are worried about their livelihoods," he said. "They deserve better than threats of a government shutdown that would have devastating consequences at a time our country and their families could least afford them."

"It's for the children" won't wash this time around. The GOP is fighting for those children's future to live in a country with plenty of economic opportunities and one where they won't be saddled with tens of trillions of debt. The coming showdown with Obama over how much and where to cut the federal budget would give all the advantages to the executive unless the GOP has, in reserve, the threat of a government shutdown as a negotiating tool. 

The Republicans are not about to give up the most potent arrow in their quiver just because Harry Reid piously - and hypocritically - plays the kid card.