“I told him very directly that all these things they’re trying to do on the Obamacare is just a waste of their time,” Reid told reporters after the meeting.

The go-slow GOP strategy is designed to prevent a government shutdown, which would begin Oct. 1 unless Congress approves a new funding vehicle, and to avoid a showdown on the bid to increase the federal debt limit by mid-October. After several months of using extraordinary measures to keep the government afloat, the Treasury will run short of cash as soon as Oct. 18, according to independent estimates…

One compromise idea would be to reverse some of the cuts that were mandated by the 2011 “sequester” deal. Democrats opposed those reductions, and the idea would be to restore that funding in exchange for a one-year delay for the health-care law.

Some conservatives are open to that approach. “Much stronger than what the leadership had recommended to us on Tuesday,” said Rep. Phil Gingrey (Ga.), who is running for the Senate. “I think it would be much more acceptable to my constituents in Georgia. They might not be totally satisfied with it, but much more so than what was proffered on Tuesday.”