◼ Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. coordinates Dem budget attack on GOP - washingtonexaminer
Schumer instructed the group, made up of Sens. Barbara Boxer of California, Tom Carper of Delaware, Ben Cardin of Maryland and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, to tell reporters that the GOP is refusing to negotiate.
He told the group to make sure they label the GOP spending cuts as "extreme."
"I always use extreme, Schumer said. "That is what the caucus instructed me to use."
◼ Budget Talks Sour, Dems Blame Tea Party for Stalemate as Deadline Looms (image source) FOX
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., also took to the floor Tuesday to accuse the Tea Party of scuttling negotiations over a spending package.◼ Schumer: who is “in the box”? - Roger L. Simon
Republicans fired back, preemptively pinning blame on the Democrats for a possible government shutdown while singling out Hoyer and Schumer for their comments Tuesday.
"Senator Schumer is not part of the (budget) negotiations, and he is making up fairy tales trying to derail serious discussions on funding the government and cutting spending, because he believes his party would benefit from a government shutdown," said Mike Steel, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.
"At this point, the House has passed a bill to fund the government through the end of the year while cutting spending. The Senate has not -- and Senator Schumer's inaccurate rants won't change that," Steel said.
The Tea Party also hit back at Schumer.
"While Chuck Schumer and the Democratic caucus have been busy in a backroom crafting their 'blame the Tea Party' talking points, according to Rasmussen, 69 percent of Americans remain 'angry' or 'very angry' with the government," said Mark Meckler, national coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots.
"Why? It's not that complicated, and it's definitely not because the American public thinks the government isn't spending enough money," he added. "It's because the majority of the American voters sent a clear message to Washington D.C. in November to get their fiscal house in order, and to make the cuts that will put this country on a sustainable path. Clearly people like Chuck Schumer didn't listen."
◼ Chuck Schumer Caught Rehearsing Extreme, Extreme, Extreme Talking Points
The key point is less about the message coordination and more about Schumer scheming to shut the government down, and preparing a rehearsed justification for it, claiming it's the other guys who won't negotiate.◼ Howard Dean: Gov’t Shutdown Would Be the ‘Best Thing in the World’
“If I was head of DNC, I would be quietly rooting for it,” said Dean, speaking on a National Journal Insider’s Conference panel Tuesday morning. “I know who’s going to get blamed – we’ve been down this road before.”Call Your Senator:
“From a partisan point of view, I think it would be the best thing in the world to have a shutdown,” said Dean. He added that as a statesman, he is not rooting for a shutdown because of its harmful effect on the country.
Hart Senate Office Building
Room 112
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3553
San Francisco: (415) 403-0100 Fax: (415) 956-6701
http://boxer.senate.gov/ (contact via webform)
