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Old 04-03-2011, 02:14 PM
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Jeanfromfillmore Jeanfromfillmore is offline
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Default GOP Leadership Cowered by Tea Party

GOP Leadership Cowered by Tea Party
Calling GOP bill to cut budget mean-spirited, Dem. Senator says Republicans must decide between country's interests and Tea Party's
(CBS News) Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid on Sunday accused the Republican leadership in the House of being "afraid" of the Tea Party - and said it was time for the GOP to decide between the interests of the fledgling conservative political movement and the rest of the country.
In an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation," Reid said the Tea Party had been "dictating a lot that goes on in the Republican leadership in the House" - particularly in regard to ongoing budget negotiations currently underway for a long-term bill to fund the government through the 2011 fiscal year.
Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn.
addresses the Tea Party
Reid argued that the influence of the Tea Party in Congress was outsized in relation to its impact throughout the rest of the United States.
"The Tea Party, you see, they spent weeks organizing here," said Reid, referring to a Tea Party-led rally on Capitol Hill last week that called on Republicans not to compromise with Democrats on the budget. "The day came for their demonstration a couple days ago. They didn't have thousands of people there. They didn't have hundreds of people. They had tens of people. If you really stretch it, you might have had 150 people there. (people are not hitting the streets with activism as they have in the past.)
"The Tea Party is not looked at very strongly around the country. The only attention they get is in the House of Representatives.(which is half of Congress) They shouldn't be getting that attention," Reid continued. (why? Because Reid says so?) "The Republican leadership in the House has to make a decision whether they're going to do the right thing for the country or do the right thing for the Tea Party."(The Tea Party are part of the country, the ones who actually care)
The Nevada senator argued the Tea Party was driving what he described as "mean-spirited" proposed cuts to the federal budget, some version of which Congress must past by April 8 in order to avoid a government shutdown.
"You know, we throw numbers around here. That's good; we need to do that. But this is more than numbers," Reid told CBS' Bob Schieffer. "This involves people.(Dem/Liberals love to use emotion as a crutch) What they did to HR-1 [a 2011 spending bill approved by the House but voted down by the Senate], this bill that did such mean-spirited things... not to cut the debt, but send an ideological message."(But didn’t he just say that they were more concerned with the emotions of people, not numbers, isn’t that an ideology?)
Citing HR-1's proposed reductions for programs like Head Start, which aims to provide improved educational opportunities for children in underserved (head start in most areas of Southern California is limited to farm laborers families, which benefits the agricultural growers at the taxpayers expense) communities, and cuts to benefits for homeless veterans, Reid emphasized Democrats' willingness to make tough choices on fiscal matters, but added, "We don't do it on the backs of middle class Americans."(he hasn’t mentioned anything that benefits the middle class, unless he’s talking about big agriculture, but they’re not middle class)
"We realize that the country needs to do something about spending. And the long-term benefits to doing something about the... deficit are significant," Reid said.
But, he added, "We don't have to reinvent the wheel. We, during the Clinton years, reduced the debt for four years... We paid down the debt. (woooow, that was some fancy accounting) We know how to do this. We don't do it on the backs of middle class Americans."(Bull, who was paying the taxes for all those programs?)
"We've agreed on a number," he said. "Let's work to get that number done."
When asked directly if he thought Republicans were "afraid" of the Tea Party, Reid said he thought that was "a pretty good choice of words. The answer is yes."(and they should be)
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham, however, responded that the Tea Party was an "important part of the Republican coalition," and said it was the Democrats who should be afraid - "of the public."(you bet)
"How did you lose the House in such overwhelming numbers?" he asked. "How did you lose so many Senate seats?
"Americans as a whole are very upset about the size and scope of the federal government," Graham continued. "We're trying to reduce spending, and our Democratic friends are hanging on to old ideas that every time you try to reduce spending you're being cruel and mean. What's cruel and mean is to pass this debt on to future generations."(actually it’s hitting us now)
Still, both Reid and Graham said they thought a government shutdown could be prevented.
"I always look at the glass being half-full," Reid told Schieffer.(all Dems/Liberals do, that’s what they think is still there to be spent) "I think we can work this out. It's so easy to do. Just really, in Washington terms, a few dollars short of being able to do this.(a few dollars in Washington terms is billions) It's a question of how we do it. We can't do it on Head Start.(Oh no, can’t cut that perk to big agriculture, they lobby our politicians) We can't do it at the program for little kids. (they hide behind kids, the poor, and the illegals) We can't do it... on homeless veterans.
"Let's work on programs that contribute to the debt," he added.(Spend more money to make money?)
Graham seemed to think it would be Democrats who would come around to the GOP perspective on the budget.
"I think we'll get together," he said, of passing a long-term budget resolution. "I think there are enough Red State Democrats who do not want to take this fight any further. They do want to be seen as reducing spending.
"I think we'll find consensus," Graham added. "We've already reduced spending by $10 billion.(that’s chump change compared to what needs to be done) The two [Continuing Resolutions] we passed cut spending more than any Congress in the history of America in terms of rescission. I think we'll find common ground there. Enough Democrats out there who understand they need to be on the right side of reducing the federal government and we'll find a number that we can all agree on."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/...50149.shtml?ta...
Lawmakers Bicker Over Budget 'Deal' as Shutdown Deadline Looms
Lawmakers vied for the political high ground Sunday, as they prepared to enter what could be the final stretch of this year's budget negotiations.
With Washington careening toward a Friday deadline to either come up with a plan or face a partial government shutdown, Democrats and Republicans continued to bicker over whether there is or is not a compromise on the table.
Aides to both parties confirmed to Fox News that policymakers are indeed working off a skeleton of a proposal that cuts $33 billion from last year's spending levels -- without such a starting figure, budget staff would be unable to write a bill. But lawmakers performed what amounts to a political dance in describing those negotiations, with Democrats sounding as if all that needs to be done is cross a few T's.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., repeated the claim Sunday that the two sides have "agreed on a number."
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., also said lawmakers are working off a proposal to cut $33 billion from last year's levels. "I'm quite optimistic," he said.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, though, has said several times this past week that there is no deal until all the details are worked out. After President Obama called Boehner and Reid over the weekend, Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said the speaker "reminded the president that there is no 'deal' or agreement on a final number, and he will continue to push for the largest possible spending cuts."
Boehner claims to be pushing for a package that more closely resembles the House-passed bill, which contained $61 billion in cuts.
Both sides are trying to protect themselves politically in case talks fall through. A failure to draft a bill for the rest of the year means they would have to either craft another unpopular stopgap bill or face a partial shutdown.
Right now, staffers are trying to whip up a budget proposal that achieves $33 billion in cuts. That number could rise, particularly if Democrats shoot down too many of the Republicans' policy riders -- which targeted organizations like Planned Parenthood for specific spending cuts.
Some GOP lawmakers are urging the party to hold its ground while others have indicated a willingness to back off the $61 billion figure.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said Sunday he'd "like to cut more" but that it's up to Reid to take the next step.
Members of Congress nevertheless kept up the drumbeat of accusations, with the GOP accusing Senate Democrats of dropping the ball and Democrats accusing House Republicans of listening too much to the "extreme" Tea Party. Reid went so far as to call Republicans' House proposal "mean-spirited," saying it goes after "poor little children" by cutting funding to Head Start, an assistance program for low-income children.
Both parties tried to use the latest jobs report to bolster their arguments.
That report, released Friday, showed the unemployment rate dipping to 8.8 percent, with the economy adding 216,000 jobs -- nowhere near where the economy was before the recession, but a marked improvement over where it was just a few months ago.
Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions said the job growth could be imperiled by failing to deal with the national debt.
The debt "creates a threat of a crisis that could put us back into recession," Sessions said on ABC's This Week." "We have got to make changes now."
But Schumer, speaking alongside Sessions, said the job gains show why lawmakers can't cut the budget too aggressively.
"We have to deal with the deficit very seriously. But we also have to deal with the economy and job growth," Schumer said. "And we don't want to snuff that out."
The ongoing debate over the fiscal 2011 budget is just a prelude to the debate over the 2012 budget proposal. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., chairman of the House Budget Committee, told "Fox News Sunday" that the GOP proposal, set to be unveiled Tuesday, would cut more than $4 trillion over the next decade, through spending caps and changes to entitlement programs.
Democrats, in response, accused Republicans of protecting corporate interests at the expense of seniors, laying the groundwork for another bitter debate.
But Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., suggested the course of the long-term struggle over the federal budget will be set now.
"What we do on the rest of this year's budget will be a strong indicator of how willing and how serious we are about dealing with our debt problem," he told "Fox News Sunday."
Rubio reiterated his pledge to vote against raising the debt ceiling unless it's "the last time we do it" and is accompanied by "meaningful reforms."
Cornyn, speaking on CNN's "State of the Union," made a similar pledge.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., though, said, "it just frightens the heck out of me that anyone responsible would say, let's go ahead and light the fuse that might create the next economic meltdown."
"You've got to believe cooler, saner heads will prevail on the debt limit as well," he said on the same program.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011...#ixzz1IUyjBEn1
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