Reid: Tea Party is Driving the GOP 'Over a Cliff'

Brushing off Republicans’ “ridiculous budgets” that will come up for a Senate vote later this week, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters today that the only way Democrats will agree to a budget is if Republicans move to their side.

“Republicans can grandstand all they want,” Reid said. “The fact is any agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff facing us at the end of this year must not get programs that support the middle class like Medicare and Social Security and education. It must be balanced with policies that ask millionaires to help a little bit and do their fair share.”

Yesterday, GOP senators marked with a colloquy the 1,111th day without the Senate passing a budget — an event Reid skipped.

“There’s simply no way to address the challenges facing us in a way that will support our economic recovery without using both sides of the ledger. So, of course, that means some revenues. The American people agree with this,” Reid said.

“We have a track record, Democrats, of supporting smart, targeted spending cuts and we’ll continue to do that.”

The proposals include budgets from Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), as well as Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) “Path to Prosperity” from the House. “I’m sorry… they’re really, really absurd,” Reid said. “…These are all just for show.”

Reid then launched into a tear against the GOP.

“The American people have had enough of this brinkmanship. They want us to get things done. And it’s pretty clear to me that the Tea Party direction of the Republican Party is driving them over a cliff,” Reid said.

If House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) continues on his path, Reid said, “it’s going to be a Republican Party that the Republicans won’t like. They don’t even like it very much now. The only people that like the Republican focus in the Congress today are the Republicans in Congress. No one else likes it, including other Republicans around the country.”