Tea Party Rails Against Budget Deal
Tea Pary activists and their hardline GOP backers slammed Congressional leaders of both parties Thursday for even thinking about a budget compromise to avoid a goverment shutdown.
Rather than do a deal, “I say shut it down,” said Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), a Tea Party favorite. Pence told a Tea Party Patriot group rally that “It’s time to pick a fight.”
Rep. Michele Bachman (R-Minn.) charged that “big liberals” such as Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) “want to shut the government down and turn you into their scapegoats.”
Chanting “We want less (government),” the Tea Party Group met at the foot of Capitol Hill as House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) signalled that a deal could be in the works on spending cuts in the range of $33 billion.
"We are going to fight for all of the spending cuts that we can get," Boehner said, but “We can't impose our will on the Senate. All we can do is to fight for all of the spending cuts that we can get an agreement to."
But at the rally, GOP leaders were in the crosshairs. Katherine Dirr, an activist from Boehner's district, told the crowd: "I say to the Republican leadership -- take off your lace panties, stop being noodlebacks. Our republic depends on you."
House Republicans initially proposed $61 billon in cuts, but the Tea Part activists had demanded $100 billion. The latest agreement to keep the government running at last year’s spending levels runs out on April 8.
Read MoreWhite House Spits on GOP's HCR Scorched-Earth Policy
Anyone who can count beyond their fingers and toes knows the Tea Party-led GOP effort to repeal the still freshly-minted health care law won't make it through the Democrat-controlled Senate, but the Obama administration isn't taking any chances: Should the Republican bill repealing health care reform make it to President Obama's desk, "He would veto it," the White House said this evening.
"The Administration strongly opposes House passage of H.R. 2 (the repeal bill ) because it would explode the deficit, raise costs for the American people and businesses, deny an estimated 32 million people health insurance, and take us back to the days when insurers could deny, limit or drop coverage for any American," the White House said in an official statement of administration policy.
"In a preliminary analysis of H.R. 2, the Congressional Budget Office found that repealing the law would increase the deficit by $230 billion in the first decade and roughly one-half of one percent of GDP, or over a trillion dollars, in the second decade; increase the number of uninsured Americans by 32 million; impose higher premiums on large firms; and cause consumers who buy coverage in the individual market to pay more out of pocket for fewer benefits," the statement said.
"Medicare’s insolvency would be accelerated by repeal – the Medicare actuaries previously stated that the Affordable Care Act extended solvency by 12 years. Repealing the Affordable Care Act would not only increase deficits in the coming decade, but would also significantly worsen the long-term fiscal burdens on American businesses and families," the statement added.
Read More"In a preliminary analysis of H.R. 2, the Congressional Budget Office found that repealing the law would increase the deficit by $230 billion in the first decade and roughly one-half of one percent of GDP, or over a trillion dollars, in the second decade; increase the number of uninsured Americans by 32 million; impose higher premiums on large firms; and cause consumers who buy coverage in the individual market to pay more out of pocket for fewer benefits," the statement said.
"Medicare’s insolvency would be accelerated by repeal – the Medicare actuaries previously stated that the Affordable Care Act extended solvency by 12 years. Repealing the Affordable Care Act would not only increase deficits in the coming decade, but would also significantly worsen the long-term fiscal burdens on American businesses and families," the statement added.
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© Copyright 2010 NYDailyNews.com. All rights reserved.