I linked this story in an earlier post, but a couple of paragraphs bear a little closer examination for the sheer arrogance that Harry Reid and the White House are showing.
A bloc of 54 House Republicans voted against a short-term funding extension this week that was needed to keep the government running while the parties negotiate a deal for a long-term funding, citing the absence of the riders and defunding of the health care law. It appears increasingly likely that many, if not all, of the 54 Republican defectors could refuse to vote for a long-term deal on the same grounds, which would force GOP leaders to rely on Democrats to get a bill through.
“The Speaker’s going to have to make a choice: He can cater to the Tea Party element and as [Indiana Republican Rep.] Mike Pence has suggested, pick a fight that will inevitably cause a shutdown on April 8th,” said New York Sen. Charles Schumer. “Or he can abandon the Tea Party in these negotiations and force a consensus among more moderate Republicans and a group of Democrats.”
Schumer is Harry Reid’s attack dog, so this is coming from Reid. And it’s equal parts arrogance and stupidity, while showing that even after their November shellacking, the Democrats still hold the American people in undisguised contempt.
The people voted overwhelmingly to stop the spending madness. The Tea Party was key to energizing and organizing that vote. The Democrats didn’t hear the vote in November and don’t hear it now, even though voters put spending cuts at or near the top of their issue priority list. So they’re trying to set a very obvious trap for Boehner, to basically cut off his base to satisfy people who blow with the prevailing winds.
Yet where are the Democrats on spending? Defending every last dime of it.:
Meanwhile, White House spokesman Jay Carney released a statement Thursday that suggested that President Obama would not sign any bill that included the riders that conservatives within the GOP were demanding.
“We all agree we want to cut spending, which is why we have already met Republicans halfway,” Carney said. “But we will continue to oppose harmful cuts to critical investments in education, innovation, and research and development that we need to grow our economy and create jobs – as well as oppose additions to the bill that have nothing to do with fiscal policy.”
They Democrats have offered about $6 billion in cuts, compared to about $60 billion that the GOP has come up with so far. They must be using the new math — the Democrats are nowhere near meeting the Republicans half-way, as Carney the former journalist lies that they have. And these “harmful critical cuts” that the Democrats are opposing? NPR, Planned Parenthood, stuff like that. Things we shouldn’t be using tax dollars to pay for when we’re fat and happy, never mind when we’re going broke.
When it comes to spending, the only thing the Democrats are serious about is spending more.
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